Bless the Children: Ship Version
by MaureenT
Summary: SG1 find a civilization that has an extremely low birthrate. When they discover one of the ways that the people are dealing with it, the life of one of the team is changed forever. S&D romance. COMPLETE! NOTE: Rating changed.
1. Chapter 1

**Bless the Children (Ship Version)**

**Author:** MaureenT  
**Categories:** Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Romance  
**Content Warning:** Mild Profanity, Sexual Situations  
**Spoilers:** Anything up to the middle of Season 7 is fair game.

**Author's Notes:** **This story contains a Daniel/Sam romance.** If you don't like such things, there is a Gen version.

* * *

***** IMPORTANT NOTICE ***  
Due to this archive's crackdown on sexual content in stories, I have changed all mature-rated scenes that may have been considered by the moderators to have an MA rating. The mature-rated version can still be found on my Web site at www .stargate-horizons. com (remove spaces). I welcome you to go there and read it, then come back here and review.**

CHAPTER ONE

The town was an odd mixture of technology and primitiveness. The buildings and the clothing that the people wore were simple and similar to what would have been seen in rural Europe during the early to mid nineteenth century, as would the carts being drawn by horse-like creatures. Yet there were also electric lights, vehicles powered by what Sam guessed was either electricity or some sort of clean-burning fuel, and other objects of a pretty advanced technology. It was as if the town was in a time warp that blended the present with an era of long ago.

The people gazed at SG-1 with curiosity, but no fear, some doing no more than glancing at them before continuing with whatever they were doing.

"Either these people are used to visitors or they're all gellin'," Jack remarked.

"What is the meaning of the word 'gellin', O'Neill?" Teal'c inquired.

"It's from those ridiculous commercials for gel insoles. You know, the ones they claim are so comfy that not even some idiot ramming your car from behind will wipe the asinine smile off your face."

"How could having comfortable insoles for your shoes prevent you from being angered by such an incident?"

"Good question. Maybe you should write to the company and ask them."

The conversation was cut short by the approach of three people, two men and a woman. They came to a stop before SG-1.

"Welcome to Cedarna, strangers," the man in front greeted, "our homes are yours."

Daniel stepped forward. "Thank you. I'm Daniel Jackson. This is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter and Teal'c. We are explorers. We've come to meet your people and get to know you, perhaps find things of interest to trade for."

The man smiled, as did the other two people. "Then you are doubly welcome, friends. I am Esha." He gestured toward the other man and then the woman. "This is Cath and Derdri. We are the governors for this town. Are you the leader of your group?"

"No, that would be me," Jack said, taking a step forward. "Daniel is sort of our spokesperson, the one who always makes nice with the people we meet . . . or at least tries to."

"Ah." Esha stepped back and gestured for them to move forward. "Come then, friends. Let us go to the Hall of Meetings so that we may speak."

Though the people seemed friendly, Jack never relaxed his guard as he and his teammates followed the three natives to what appeared to be the largest building in town. They walked through what was obviously some kind of public hall and went into a much smaller side room furnished with a dozen chairs positioned around an oval table. Esha, Cath and Derdri sat at one end and motioned for SG-1 to sit at the other.

"You have come through the ring, have you not?" Esha asked.

"Yes. We call it the Stargate," Sam replied.

"Others have come through before. Some were like you, seeking knowledge or trade. Others came with evil intentions," the man looked at Teal'c, "ones who bore a mark on their foreheads as you do."

"Jaffa have come here?" Daniel asked in interest. "Didn't they try to enslave your people?"

"Yes, they demanded that we worship their god, but we refused."

"So, how come you're still alive?" Jack asked. "The Goa'uld, these so-called gods most of the Jaffa serve, generally don't take no for an answer."

"Though we use it only in times of great need, there is a powerful weapon at our disposal."

That instantly piqued the interest of Jack and Sam.

"What sort of weapon?" the colonel asked, leaning forward.

"It draws its power from the heart of this world. It was already here when we came to this planet. Its power destroyed the ships of those who came, then killed a great many of the warriors that had come through the ring. The ones who survived fled and never returned."

"If you don't mind, I'd love to take a look at it," Sam said.

"Certainly. Someone will take you to it before you depart from our world."

"Esha, we noticed that, though your homes are of a simple design, your clothing appears to be handmade from natural materials, and you still use carts drawn by animals, you also have some items of advanced technology," Daniel commented. "It seems kind of incongruous."

It was Derdri who replied. "Our people have always valued a simple life that is in harmony with nature. As the years passed and our knowledge of how to make such things grew, we chose to retain the simpleness of our lives in as many ways as we could. The technology you see makes the lives of many easier, but we do not rely upon it, nor do we make any machine that would harm our world."

"That was a wise decision. It's a shame that our world isn't the same way," Daniel commented.

SG-1 and the three Cedarnans talked for another hour. Jack and Sam wanted to learn more about the technology of this planet, whereas the Cedarnans were very interested in Earth's medical advancements. It appeared that, though they were fairly advanced technologically in some ways, they were far behind Earth when it came to medicines and other medical treatments.

After the meeting, Derdri took Sam to go see the weapon, and Cath agreed to show Jack and Teal'c some of their other technology. Daniel wanted to learn more about their people and history, so Esha, who had expressed an interest in talking with him some more, offered to take him to their library, though Daniel figured that he might not be able to read the language.

"I have a talent for seeing the character of a person," the Cedarnan told Daniel as the two walked down the street, "and I have learned much in this time that we have spoken with you and your companions. This man named O'Neill, the one who is your leader, he is one with the heart of a warrior. There are no warriors among my people since there is no war, but we have met the warriors of other cultures. I feel that O'Neill does not trust easily."

"Well, you're right about that. It takes a lot to earn Jack's trust, but it's worth the effort."

"Teal'c, too, follows the path of the warrior."

"Yes. He once served the Goa'uld, but he came to realize that they weren't gods and now fights with us to defeat them."

"And Samantha. She is also a warrior, but she is a scientist as well. I sense that is her true passion."

Daniel smiled. "Yeah. Sam is a member of the military, and she's well trained to fight, but she is, first and foremost, a scientist. She'll have all kinds of fun figuring out how that weapon of yours works, as well as your other technology."

Esha nodded. He looked at Daniel. "And then there is you. You intrigued me the most. As we spoke, it was clear that you are a scholar, a man of great learning and knowledge. You seek to know about us as a people, not our technology. I sense also that you are a man who values peace and the sanctity of life. Yet there is the touch of the warrior in you as well. Forgive me if I am wrong, but it seems as if you are not a warrior by your own choosing."

Daniel didn't respond for a few seconds. "Years ago, nobody would have called me a warrior. My training is in studying cultures, both of the past and the present, and in their languages. But, eight years ago, my whole life changed. I became involved in the Stargate Program. We encountered the Goa'uld out there, and they became our enemy. Because of this, I have had to learn to fight, to be a warrior, but it's not something that I'd have chosen for myself."

"You would wish for there to be peace."

"Yes, if it was possible. Unfortunately, I doubt that will ever happen, not as long as the Goa'uld are still out there. They have no interest in peace and would destroy my world, if they could."

"It is a sad thing that a man of peace must practice war to protect his people."

Daniel did not reply. This conversation was getting too close to one of the things that had come to bother him a great deal before his ascension, the fact that he had lost sight of who he was and what his purpose really was. Since returning to human form, Daniel had become more content with the role he played at the SGC and on SG-1, but there were still times when he was frustrated by the actions and mentality of the military he worked for, like during the recent incident with the native population of Unas on P3X-403.

When they arrived at the library, Daniel was surprised to see that the written language bore a striking resemblance to Ogham, the oldest known form of the Irish language. With help from Esha, Daniel soon had a strong grasp of the language.

"You learn very quickly, Daniel. I am impressed," the Cedarnan commented.

"Well, this language is derived from a very old one on my planet. It's no longer used in that form, but I learned the language during my schooling."

Esha gazed at him in surprise. "But how it is that our language comes from one on your world?"

"Um, well, you see, long ago, the Goa'uld stole people from my planet and took them to other worlds. Your ancestors were originally from Earth. Once they were taken from there, they eventually developed their own culture, their language slowly changing over time."

"Then we are the same people, yours and mine?"

"In essence, yes, as well as the people on thousands of other planets across the galaxy."

"I am pleased to know this, that we have so many brothers and sisters among the stars."

Daniel spent the next three hours learning about the Cedarnans, some of it coming from books, but most of it from Esha. The man seemed very willing to share his knowledge. He was also eager to know things about Daniel and his people, and the archeologist told him as much as he thought would be wise.

The Cedarnan took an object from his pocket. "This is something you might find interesting." He handed it to Daniel.

"What is it?"

"It is a device that enables one person to share their knowledge with another by transferring it directly to their mind."

"Wow. Really? That's amazing. It must make teaching pretty easy. A teacher could transfer their knowledge straight into the brains of their students."

"Yes, but there is a drawback. Some personal memories and knowledge can also be included in the transfer."

"Ah. Yes, that would be a drawback."

"It is rarely used. However, if there was some knowledge that you or your companions needed that could not be found in another way, one of us who has that knowledge would be willing to give it to you through that."

"Thank you very much, Esha. It's a generous offer." Daniel handed the device back to the man. "If we really need it, I'll let you know, but I don't think it will be necessary."

As they left the library a few minutes later and headed back toward the Hall of Meetings, Daniel looked about at the town and its people. There was a sense of peace about the place that appealed to him. Yet there was something missing, something that should be there but was not.

And then it suddenly hit him.

"Esha, where are all the children?" he blurted out. "Are they in school?"

"Yes, those children that we have been blessed with are in school."

There was something in the man's voice, a hint of sorrow that made Daniel look at him. "Is there something wrong?"

"Children are a very rare thing for us, Daniel," the Cedarnan explained sadly. "Only one couple in four gives birth to one. It was not always that way. Once, long ago, the streets were filled with children. It is that way no longer."

"But with that low a birthrate, how do your people survive?"

The man paused before answering. "We survive however we can. It has made it necessary for us to change our lives in certain ways."

"Esha, I'm no doctor, but is it possible that there's something on this planet, either in the food, the water or the air, that's affecting your ability to reproduce? Have your scientists looked into this?"

"Yes, but they have found nothing. Our knowledge of such things is not extensive, not, I would guess, as great as that of your people."

"Well, maybe our doctors can look into it and see what's causing it."

"They would have our deep gratitude if they did."

Jack and Teal'c were already in the meeting room when Daniel and Esha got there. Sam arrived a few minutes later. Respecting that the people from Earth may wish to talk in private, the three Cedarnans left, saying that they would return in an hour with food and beverages.

"So, what did you find out, Carter?" Jack asked.

"Well, sir, that weapon is really something else. From what I could find out, it has tremendous power. What Esha said about it led me to make some guesses, and I think I was right. I believe that the weapon draws thermal energy from the planet's core. If that's true, the destructive potential would be enormous. However, it's also very dangerous. You couldn't use it very often. The more you used it, the more heat it would take from the core. If the core lost too much heat, the planet would die."

"So, I'm guessing that this isn't a technology we're going to be eager to use on Earth."

"No, sir, not on that big a scale, but it's possible that we might be able to learn enough from it to create similar weapons on a much smaller scale, like something that could be hooked up to a nuclear reactor. It would take a while to study it in depth, though."

"Of course it would," Jack responded. Nothing like that was ever quick.

"What about you, sir? Did you and Teal'c find anything of interest?"

"Oh, yes, all kinds of interesting doohickeys. Their cars are kind of cool. They let me take a little spin in one. They run on hydrogen."

Sam's eyes lit with interest. "Really? Wow. We've been working on perfecting hydrogen powered cars for years. We might be able to learn a lot from them."

"Well, I can tell you that the things wouldn't win any races. Top speed is around thirty-five miles per hour."

"That could be a matter of choice, Jack," Daniel responded. "The Cedarnans are very conscious about living in a way that doesn't damage the ecology. Faster cars would cause greater damage to plants and the soil and would mean a greater chance of hitting and killing animals. It would also increase the human death toll, and, from what I've learned, that would be a very big concern."

"What do yo mean?" Sam asked.

Daniel shared what he'd found out about the low birthrate. Sam agreed that it might have something to do with the soil, air or water on the planet.

"We'll take samples back with us for analysis," she said. "There's always a chance that we could find a way to help."

"Just don't tell them that and get their hopes up, okay?" Jack said.

"I won't, sir."

Daniel told them the other things he'd learned about the people and their history. "Judging by their written language, I originally believed that they were descended from the ancient Celtic people of the fourth to sixth century A.D., but things I learned from Esha and the books I looked at led me to believe that their ancestors came from a much earlier time period, perhaps as far back as the second century B.C.E., which is really quite exciting since the oldest known record of Ogham, the written form of Primitive Irish, dates back to no earlier than the fourth century. It's been theorized that the origin of Ogham was a great deal further back in history, and what I now know appears to support that. What's just as interesting is that I think that some of the people taken from Earth were druids."

Jack's eyebrows lifted. "Druids? You mean the people that lived inside trees?"

"No, Jack, those are dryads, also known as wood nymphs, female tree spirits from Greek mythology. The druids were a priestly class in ancient Celtic societies throughout the British Isles and much of Western Europe north of the Alps. Besides being priests, the druids had many other roles in Celtic society, including philosophers, judges, teachers, historians, and doctors. They were also believed by some to possess magical abilities and the power to foresee the future."

"So, we're surrounded by a bunch of people who create magic potions and weave spells?"

"I seriously doubt that, Jack. I saw nothing in their history books to lead me to that conclusion, and Esha didn't say a word about anything like that. If some of their ancestors were druids, it's likely that religion faded away centuries ago. However, the Cedarnans' views about nature may very well have grown from the beliefs of the druids. All of nature, most especially trees, was of great importance to the druids, and certain trees, plants and animals were particularly sacred to them, such as mistletoe. The Celtic people as a whole lived very closely with nature, depending upon it to survive."

"Um, Daniel, didn't the druids sometimes perform human sacrifices?" Sam asked.

The archeologist shook his head. "Though Julius Caesar claimed that the druids did engage in human sacrifice, many historians and archeologists believe this was a form of anti-druid propaganda. After all, he was trying to conquer the Celts, so he had good reason to make them look bad. There is no indisputable archeological evidence that proves the druids did sacrifice humans, although it's generally accepted that they did sacrifice animals."

"So much for keeping the little furry critters alive," Jack remarked.

"Animal sacrifices to gods were quite common in many ancient civilizations all over the planet, Jack."

When Esha and two other Cedarnans arrived with trays of food, the members of SG-1 looked at the fruit, bread and cheese uncertainly.

"Uh, not that we don't appreciate your generosity," Jack said, "but I think we should pass."

"You fear that the food will make you ill?" Esha asked, puzzled.

"Not ill, Esha," Daniel replied. "I think Jack's worried that, if the reason for your problem in having children is connected to the food, it could cause a problem for us, too."

"You need not fear such a thing. Sometimes, visitors come to our world and choose to stay. We have found that they are able to have children, as are their descendants for two generations afterwards. It is not until the third generation that their descendants become like the rest of us."

"Okay, then we want to make sure that our great grandkids can keep passing on our genes." Jack looked at his teammates, "not that that's going to be a concern for us if the state of affairs keeps going the way it is."

Upon seeing the Cedarnan's confusion, Daniel explained. "Teal'c is the only one of us who has a child."

Esha looked at the Jaffa. "You are most fortunate."

"Yes, I am," Teal'c agreed. "My son is a source of great joy to me."

Esha dipped his head slightly. "Bless the children, for they are a great gift to be cherished." He turned back to the others. "I understand your concern. I would not wish us to inflict upon another people the sorrow that we bear."

"If you don't mind, Esha, I'd like to take back samples of that food for our scientists to analyzing," Sam said. "We're also going to bring back soil, air and water samples."

"Certainly. Take whatever you need." The man hesitated. "Would it be permissible for us to have samples of your blood? Our own scientists wish to study your blood to see how it differs from ours."

Jack was about to say no when Daniel spoke up. "Sure. I don't see why not."

"Thank you. I will send someone to take the blood." Seeing the look on Jack's face, he added, "Or, if you prefer, they will give you the containers, and one of you can draw the blood."

"That'll be fine, Esha," Daniel told him. "We'll be here."

"Daniel," Jack said as soon as the Cedarnans were gone. "I don't think it's such a good idea for them to have some of our blood."

"What are you afraid they're going to do with it, Jack, perform some arcane, magical ritual?"

"Well, no, that wasn't the first thing that came to my mind, but now that you mention it—"

"Jack, these people have virtually no children. Look around on the streets. There should be kids playing out there. There should be mothers carrying babies around. Only one in four families gets to have that. Tell me this, Jack. If, after years if trying, you and Sarah found out that you couldn't have kids, and then someone came along who might be able to change that, what would you be willing to do to see that happen?"

Jack took a moment to reply. Though he'd only had a few short years with Charlie, he wouldn't have given up those years for anything. "A lot," he finally admitted.

"Then please don't refuse to give these people something that might help them."

Jack sighed silently. "Okay, Daniel." Then his expression changed. "But I swear, if somebody uses my blood to start doing voodoo on me, I'm coming after you."

"Voodoo, as we know it today, originated in Haiti, Jack, and was a derivative of ancient religions in Africa. It has nothing to do with the druids."

"Whatever."

"Actually, we should get blood samples from the Cedarnans, too," Sam said. "And Janet would probably want sperm samples as well."

"Okay, now there's where I draw the line," Jack declared. "We can ask these people for some blood, but there is no way that I'm gonna ask one of those guys to make a donation in a cup."

Blood samples were taken from Daniel, Sam and Jack, and SG-1 was given samples of blood taken from a male and a female Cedarnan who had no children and from a couple who did. After gathering all the soil, water and air samples that Sam thought they might need, she and her teammates headed back to the gate, promising that they'd return soon. The Cedarnans were eager to trade their own technological knowledge for the medical knowledge of Earth.

"So, how did it go, SG-1?" Hammond asked.

"Good, sir," Sam responded. "The native people are very friendly and are eager to work out a trade for their technology."

"And nobody performed any animal sacrifices while we were there," Jack added.

The general stared at him. "Excuse me?"

"Ignore him, General," Daniel said. "I'll explain everything at the debriefing."

"Very well. We'll debrief in an hour."

In the infirmary, as they got their post-mission checkups, Daniel and Sam told Janet about the low birthrate on Cedarna. She was intrigued and promised to take a look at the samples they brought back.

In the debriefing, Sam and Daniel did most of the talking, though Jack interjected a few wisecracks here and there. The archeologist focused a lot on the Cedarnans' problem of not being able to have kids, trying to convince Hammond that they should do all they could to help.

"I'm not sure how much we could help them, Doctor Jackson, but I will let Doctor Fraiser know that she has my okay to pursue this," the general said.

"Thank you, sir," Daniel responded.

Hammond turned to Jack. "I'm pleased by the Cedarnans' willingness to share their technology, and I'm sure that my superiors will be as well. I will have Doctor Fraiser start gathering any medical information that she thinks the people might benefit from and be willing to trade for. Did they request any medical equipment or medicines as well?"

"We really didn't get into details with them, sir," the colonel replied. "We figured that could be done on the return trip."

"All right. We can turn this over to SG-9. They'll work out the details on the trade agreement."

"Um, sir, I'd really like to stay on this," Daniel said.

"Doctor Jackson, SG-1's primary designation is a first contact team. Things like working out trade agreements is the specialty of some of the other teams."

"I know that, sir, but this is more than a trade agreement. In the short time that I talked with Esha, I got to know their people pretty well, and I think that I built a good rapport with him. I'd like to follow through on it. This wouldn't be the first time that SG-1 continued taking the lead in helping the inhabitants of a planet. The Enkarans are one example. If Jack doesn't want to go back there, I can join SG-9 when they go. I just don't want Esha and the others to have to get to know a bunch of new people without at least one familiar face among them."

Hammond looked at Jack. "Colonel?"

Jack met Daniel's eyes, seeing the plea there. "We can go back, sir, at least this first time. SG-9 can come, too, and we'll make introductions."

"All right. We'll schedule the mission for 0700 hours on Friday. That will give Doctor Fraiser three days to do her analysis on the samples."

* * *

As it turned out, Janet didn't need the three days to figure out the problem.

"It's the water," she told SG-1 when they came to the infirmary at her request. "There's a chemical in it that acts as a spermicide. Small doses wouldn't do any harm, but, after years of exposure, it would build up in the body. What you told me about the descendants of newcomers to the planet leads me to believe that the chemical is being transmitted to the children, most likely through the placenta, but that it takes a few generations for the effects to become critical. I'm betting that, if you asked the Cedarnans, they'd admit that each generation from the newcomers has a progressively harder time producing children. I found the chemical in all the blood samples you brought back, both the men and women. In men, it would likely greatly reduce the number of sperm they produced. In women, it could affect the environment in the uterus, making it hostile to sperm."

"Okay, you said it's only in the water? Not the soil?" Sam questioned.

"No, it isn't in the soil at all, although I did find traces in the samples of fruit and vegetables that you brought back."

"Then it can't be coming from the rain or snow. If that was the source, the soil would be contaminated, too."

"The Cedarnans are farmers," Daniel stated. "Their primary source of food is the crops they grow, and they irrigate their crops and orchards with water from the river."

Sam nodded. "Which would explain why the chemical is in the fruits and vegetables." She turned to Janet. "If the level of this chemical keeps rising with each generation, wouldn't it mean that, eventually, none of them would be able to have children at all?"

"I'm guessing that the saturation level reaches a certain point and won't go beyond that. I've still got tests to run, which may answer more questions."

"Can we help them?" Daniel asked.

"There are certain treatments that have proven effective in increasing sperm count, but I don't know how well they'll work in this situation. We may not be able to help this generation, but, if we get rid of the chemical in the water, after a few generations, it should stop being a problem."

Though Daniel was happy to hear that the future of the Cedarnan people might be saved, he was disappointed that they probably couldn't help this generation.

"We'll work on finding a way to neutralize the chemical," Janet said. "It could take a while, though. In the meantime, I don't think it would be wise to tell them that we might have a solution, just in case we can't come up with one."

"If you can't, then maybe they can move to another planet, one that doesn't have tainted water," Sam suggested.

"You know, if these people are descended in part from druids, I find this kind of ironic," Daniel murmured.

"How's that?"

"Well, in Pliny the Elder's 'Naturalis Historia', he said the druids believed that giving a barren animal a drink made of mistletoe would enable the animal to produce offspring. There is no mistletoe on Cedarna." That's when Daniel thought of something. "Wait a minute. That planet has wildlife, plenty of it, and the Cedarnans raise livestock, which appear to have no trouble breeding. Wouldn't this spermicide affect the animals, too?"

"Not necessarily," Janet replied. "Chemicals that affect human beings don't always have the same effect on other species. It could also be that the animals have something in their systems that provides a natural immunity to the chemical."

"If you can't find a way to neutralize it, could there be a way to synthesize something from the animals if they do have an immunity?"

"It's possible. If we don't come up with something, we can try that route."

* * *

Daniel was watching a special on Native Americans that evening when there was a knock on his door. He opened it to find Sam on the other side.

"Hey. I wasn't expecting a visit," he said with a smile. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, I just thought I'd drop by. Ever since you descended, we haven't had many chances to spend some time together outside of work, just the two of us, I mean. I kind of miss that."

Daniel's smile softened. "Me too, Sam. Come on in." They headed into the living room. He glanced down at what she was carrying. "So, what's in the bag?"

"One of your favorites, chocolate walnut cookies."

Daniel grinned. "I haven't had any of those since I descended. Thanks, Sam."

The major walked over to the TV. "What are you watching?"

"Just a special on Native America. I'll turn it off."

Once the TV was off, Sam and Daniel went into the dining room and sat at the table to enjoy the cookies.

"Mmm. I'd forgotten how good these are," the archeologist remarked.

"Daniel, there's something that I've been wondering about since we got back from Cedarna," Sam said after a few more seconds of eating her cookie. "You seem so driven to help those people with their infertility problem. Why?"

The archeologist did not say anything for several long seconds. "Did you ever wonder why Sha're and I didn't have any kids?"

"Uh, no, not really."

"Well, we tried. Throughout that whole year we tried. Sha're wanted children so badly, and I wanted to give them to her. But it never happened. During those last couple of months, I caught Sha're crying several times. She said that she was cursed, that Ra had punished her for her part in the rebellion by making her infertile. I told her that wasn't so, that it was just hard for some people to have babies, that it was nobody's fault. The truth was that I didn't know if the problem was with Sha're or with me." He paused. "When I saw her pregnant with Apophis' child, I figured that I was the one who had the problem, that I was sterile. I still don't know if that's true. I never had myself tested, didn't figure there was any point to it after Sha're died."

"I'm sorry, Daniel. I didn't know."

"I understand the pain the Cedarnans are going through, Sam. The sadness I saw in Esha's eyes is the same thing I saw in Sha're's so many times. I just want to do all I can to give the Cedarnans something that Sha're and I never got to have together."

Sam reached over and laid her hand upon her friend's. "We will help them, Daniel. I promise."


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

At seven o'clock Friday morning, SG-1 returned to Cedarna, accompanied by SG-9. Instead of being met by Esha, Derdri greeted them, explaining that Esha was attending to another matter. There was something in the woman's manner that concerned Daniel.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

The woman hesitated fractionally. "Yes, but I am sure it will be resolved. Come. Let us go to the hall so that we may talk."

"After today, SG-9 will be taking charge of working out the trade agreement," Jack explained once they reached the meeting room and introductions had been made. "They're experts in stuff like this."

"Does this mean that you will not be coming back here?" Derdri's gaze flitted toward Daniel, then quickly away.

"I would like to continue being a part of this," the archeologist replied, "but my time here would have to be limited since I'll be going on other missions with my team, and I have duties at the SGC as well."

"We would not wish for you to be burdened with this, Daniel," the Cedarnan said earnestly. "If these men are skilled in agreements of trade, we will trust them to be fair and wise in their dealings with us. You need not continue coming here."

Puzzled by her attitude, which seemed to indicate that she didn't want him to come back, Daniel said nothing.

A short while later, SG-1 walked out of the meeting hall, leaving the discussion of the agreement to the other SG team.

"Is it my imagination or did she seem kind of eager to end Daniel's relationship with these people?" Jack asked.

"She did seem pretty insistent that he didn't need to stay a part of this," Sam admitted.

"Which I find rather odd considering how friendly they all were to us yesterday."

"I wish I could talk to Esha," Daniel said. "I wonder where he is," he pointed a finger at Jack, who'd opened his mouth, "and don't say anything about animal sacrifices or magic rituals."

"I wasn't going to say that."

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't."

"Were."

"Wasn't."

Daniel looked at him piercingly. "Then what were you going to say?"

"Uhhh . . . just, um. . . ." He looked at his teammates, who were all staring at him expectantly. "Oh, leave me alone."

At that moment, Daniel spied Esha in the distance. The man was walking hurriedly across the street.

"Esha!" Daniel called, breaking into a trot, his teammates behind him.

The man spun around, and, for a brief moment, there was a look of panic on his face.

"Daniel, I-I did not realize that you and your team had returned. I have been attending to an important matter."

"Yes, that's what Derdri said. Is there some kind of trouble?"

"You need not concern yourself with it," Esha said quickly.

Just then, another man came running up. "Esha, he has gotten worse!" Then he noticed SG-1, and his face went pale, eyes widening in fear.

"Return to your duties," Esha told him. "I will come as soon as I can."

The man hurried off.

"Okay, what's going on here?" Jack asked. "First, Derdri acts like she wants to shoo Daniel off the planet as quickly as possible, then we see you acting all squirrelly, and, now, that guy looks like he's ready to have a heart attack when he sees us."

"Please. It would be best if you did not ask," Esha said, beginning to look a little like a cornered animal. "It is a private thing."

"Oh, now that's just not gonna cut it, not if we're going to be doing business with you people."

Normally, Daniel would tell Jack that they didn't have the right to pry into the Cedarnans' private business, but something was definitely going on here.

"Who was he talking about when he said that someone had gotten worse?" he asked. "Is somebody sick? If that's the case, maybe we can help."

All at once, the man before them seemed to wilt. His shoulders slumped with defeat. "You were never supposed to know," he murmured. "It is always kept secret from those who visit our world, especially from those who have been chosen."

"What's always kept secret?" Jack asked. "Chosen for what?"

"Come with me," Esha responded in a tone of resignation.

As they headed toward the south end of town as the man started to explain. "You know of our problem with a low birthrate. When our doctors began to realize what was happening, they thought it would be the end of our people. They tried so many things to fix it, but nothing worked. We are all blessed with long lives, but that would not prevent the demise of our people if there were too few children to take the place of those who died of old age, illness and accidents. In the years since this problem began, our numbers have been dwindling. At one time, there were many of us. Now, our numbers are so low that many villages and towns no longer have people to live in them. As I have said, occasionally, visitors come and decide to make this their home. Those who are not already married are encouraged to wed and to produce as many children as possible. Those children and the children after them help to increase our numbers a little, but, as I have said, in time, those descended from the ones who took up residence here become infertile like everyone else."

"We know why, Esha," Sam said. "It's because of a chemical in your water. It's a type of spermicide, a poison that kills sperm. Because of it, your male population doesn't produce enough, which makes it less likely that they can father children. It might also make a woman's uterus, her womb, hostile to the sperm, causing them to die before they reach the egg."

Esha stared at her. "Our water? We knew that the problem lie mainly with the men since newcomers who bred with native women were able to give them children, though not as many as a couple who were both newcomers. But we did not know the reason for the problem. If it is in the water, then there is nothing we can do except leave this world."

"We might be able to fix it, Esha," Daniel told him in spite of Janet's request not to say anything yet. "We can't be sure yet, but our doctors and scientists are working on coming up with a way to neutralize the chemical."

The Cedarnan met his eyes. "If you can do this, you will have saved our race." His expression turned to regret. "But it may be that, once you have learned what we have done, you will not want to help us."

"What did you do?" Jack asked, getting a bad feeling in his gut.

"I will show you."

Ahead of them was a building that looked different from all the others. It appeared more modern. Esha told SG-1 that it was their hospital.

"As I was saying, our people were desperate for a way to save us from extinction," he continued. "Because the problem appeared to be mostly with the men, we considered sending our women to other worlds to find men to impregnate them. But, though some women were willing to do that for the sake of our people, it was decided that we did not want to disrespect our women by treating them like breeding stock."

"Thank you," Sam said with emotion, not sure that she'd want to have anything more to do with these people if they'd forced the women to do something like that.

"Also, we were concerned that some of the men they chose might not be . . . suitable. Our way of life and our beliefs are very important to us, and we worried that some of the children born of these men we knew so little about might grow up with unwanted character traits. It is well known that if a man has a quick temper, it is possible that his children might inherit that temper, and we feared that children born from those off-world unions might destroy the peace we have here or seek to do things that would harm this world."

"Makes sense I suppose," Jack said. "Still waiting on you telling us what you did."

They entered the building, and SG-1 saw that it was, indeed, a hospital. Esha led them down a hallway to a locked door, which he opened. Beyond it, the hallway continued.

"One day, a group exploring the area around the great weapon discovered an underground chamber," Esha revealed as they continued down the hall. "The chamber had several devices in it that were far beyond our level of technology. In time, our scientists discovered what some of the devices were for. One of them has helped our people to survive."

Esha paused at another door and turned to Daniel. "Please forgive us. We only sought to save our people."

He opened the door and stepped inside, SG-1 following him. In the room were four people gathered in a corner. Seeing Esha and the people from Earth, they stepped aside to reveal a young child dressed in a loose, knee-length tunic. The boy was sitting on the floor in the corner, his face completely devoid of emotion, eyes staring sightlessly. He was rocking slightly, arms wrapped tightly around his knees. There was something about the child that struck a familiar cord in all of SG-1, but it was only Daniel who realized what he was seeing.

"Oh my God," he whispered.

Sam looked at him, seeing the stunned and horrified expression on his face, "Daniel?"

"It's me," he whispered. "That's me."

"What?" Jack exclaimed. He stared harder at the boy and realized that Daniel was right. The resemblance was undeniable. He turned to Esha, furious. "You cloned him?"

The man cowered before Jack's fury. "Please. You must understand. We were trying to survive. When we realized that one of the machines could make . . . copies of people, we saw it as a way to preserve our race. But to copy our own people was not acceptable to us. For everyone to see a duplicate of themselves almost every day of their lives would be almost unbearable. We value each of our people's uniqueness and individuality. The decision was made to go to other worlds and seek out men and women we believed to be good people, people that we would be happy to have as a part of our society. Blood or skin samples were taken from them that could be used to make what you call clones. The clones of the men, when they grew to adulthood, would mate with our women or with the clones of off-world women and give them children." Esha met Daniel's eyes. "And when people came to visit our world, if there were any among them whom we thought were the right kind of people, we would take samples from them, too. We would be honored to have one such as you living among us, which is why you were chosen."

"And were any of the rest of us 'chosen'?" Jack asked bitingly.

"We got a sample from Samantha," Esha admitted.

Sam was stunned. "You mean there's a clone of me, too?"

"No. She has not yet been created. We can only do one at a time and must wait until that one has finished developing before doing another."

"Finished developing?" Sam asked. "You mean when they mature to adulthood? We're familiar with cloning. We've run across other races that use it, and some of them accelerate the growth of the clones so that they reach maturity in a matter of hours or days."

Esha shook his head. "They do not grow to adulthood in the machine. We do not know why, but the age they are when they come out of the machine varies. Some are infants, others are young children. None are over the age of nine years. We do not know how to change this, and we are afraid to make any alterations to the settings on the machine."

"What's wrong with him?" Daniel asked, looking at the clone of himself.

"We do not know. This has never happened before. He seems healthy, so we have wondered if it has something to do with the memories."

Daniel's head snapped about. "He has my memories?"

"Only the memories that you had at that age. If we do not give them memories, they are like newborn infants and must be taught everything that a baby must learn."

The archeologist turned back to the little boy in the corner. He appeared to be around eight years old. . . .

Suddenly, Daniel was striding across the room, pushing the Cedarnan scientists out of the way. He sat on the floor and gathered the boy into his arms.

"It's okay, Danny. I'm here. I've got you," he murmured, holding the child tight. "I know how much it hurts, Danny, but I won't let you be alone. I swear I won't. It's going to be all right."

Listening to Daniel's words, Sam realized what was going on. "Oh, God." She looked at her C.O. "Daniel's parents, sir."

"Ah, crap!" Jack cursed. "Dammit all to hell."

"What is it?" Esha asked, worried.

"Daniel Jackson witnessed the violent death of his parents when he was a mere child of eight," Teal'c explained.

"Three guesses on what memories you just gave that little kid," Jack growled, very clearly not happy with the Cedarnans.

"I-I-I am so sorry," Esha stammered, horrified. "We did not know this. The machine downloads the memories to coincide with the age of the child. We could not have known about this trauma that Daniel suffered."

"How did you even get his memories?" Jack asked.

"That device!" Sam blurted out. She turned to Jack. "Derdri showed me a device that she said was sometimes used to transfer knowledge from one person to another."

Esha nodded. "They were found in the chamber. The devices work with the machine that creates the clones. There are only two of them. One was shown to you so that it could record everything from your memory. The other was shown to Daniel."

"Then you lied about using them as a teaching aid."

"No, it was not a lie. We do sometimes use them for that. We can limit how much they record."

Daniel had gotten to his feet, carrying the boy, who was still unresponsive. "I'm taking him," he said firmly. Seeing the look on the archeologist's face, nobody in their right mind would dare to say no. He'd probably shoot anyone who got in his way.

"Yes. Yes, of course," Esha quickly said. "I am so terribly sorry. We did not know."

"Yeah, well, now you do," Jack stated, glaring at the man. "I want that sample of Carter's blood. You are not going to make a clone of her. And you had better not try to make another one of Daniel or you are going to be very, very sorry."

Esha gestured at one of the scientists, who rushed out of the room. He came back a moment later with two vials of blood, handing them to Sam.

"That's all of it?" Jack asked.

"Yes. There is no more."

"Then we're outta here."

SG-1 left the hospital, Esha following a pace behind them.

Jack spoke into his radio. "Harris, this is O'Neill."

"Harris here, sir," answered the leader of SG-9.

"Did anyone take a sample of yours or any of your team's blood?"

"Uhhh . . . no sir."

"Any of you suffer any unexplained scrapes or cuts?"

There was a brief pause. "No, we're all fine, sir."

"Good. Did anyone show you a doohickey that they said is for transferring knowledge between people?"

"No, we haven't seen anything like that."

"Then head back to the gate. We're leaving."

"Sir?" Harris questioned in surprise and confusion.

"You heard me, Major."

"Yes, sir."

None of the other members of SG-1 made any comments. Sam could understand why her C.O. was angry. This was sort of like when Loki made a clone of him without his knowledge. That hadn't happened all that long ago, and he was still ticked off about it. This was reminding Sam of the time that Harlan secretly made robot copies of them. The colonel hadn't been very happy about that either.

Teal'c, too, could understand Jack's desire to get them and the other team off this planet. They could not trust the Cedarnans not to clone another one of them.

As for Daniel, he wasn't paying much attention to what was going on. His mind was focused on the child he carried, who was still showing no signs of awareness. He hung limply in Daniel's arms, his small blond head lying still on the archeologist's shoulder.

Daniel had no clear memories of those first few hours after seeing his parents killed. The first memory he had was of waking up in a hospital. The hospital staff had been kind, but they didn't have the proper training to deal with a severely traumatized eight-year-old. A child psychologist was sent in to treat him, but Daniel had already descended into a world of silence, and the woman couldn't break through. He vowed that the same thing wouldn't happen again.

As the Stargate activated and SG-9 began going through, Esha looked at Daniel with deep sorrow in his eyes. "Please forgive us," he begged. "We did not mean to harm you or the boy."

"Come on, Daniel. Let's get out of here," Jack said.

Daniel allowed his friend to lead him through the gate. Seconds later, they stepped onto the ramp at the SGC. Hammond was in the gate room.

"SG-1, would you care to explain what's going on?" He started at the child. "Who is this?"

"Well, General, we found out a few things about how the Cedarnans were attempting to increase their population," Jack replied. "We weren't so happy with what we learned."

"This boy?"

"Is Daniel, sir."

Hammond blinked in confusion. "What?"

"It's a clone, sir," Sam explained. "They cloned Daniel, and they would have cloned me, too, if we hadn't found out."

Hammond was at a loss for words for a couple of seconds. "I see. All right, get the boy to the infirmary and get yourselves checked out. We'll debrief in an hour." He looked at Daniel, who was staring down at the child, his expression that of anger, worry and anguish. "Make that an hour and a half."

Jack nodded. "Yes, sir."

Janet was more than a little surprised when she saw Daniel coming in carrying a child.

"Daniel, who is this?" she asked, coming forward. And then she got a good look at the boy's face. Her eyes widening, she looked back and forth between Daniel and the child.

"Amazing resemblance, ain't it, Doc," Jack said.

"I don't understand."

"He's me, Janet," Daniel told her.

"He's. . . ." Her eyes filled with comprehension. "A clone?"

"Yes," Sam confirmed.

"Bring him over here."

Daniel followed Janet to an exam bed. He laid the boy he had begun to think of as "Danny" upon it. Janet looked the child over, frowning in concern.

"He appears to be in a deep state of catatonia. What caused this?"

"I guess they'd call it post traumatic stress disorder nowadays," Daniel replied.

"PTSD? Over what?"

Daniel didn't reply, so it was Sam who spoke up. "How much do you know about Daniel's childhood?"

"I have his entire medical history."

"Then you probably know what happened to him when he was eight."

"Eight?" Janet frowned, trying to recall something specific. Then she remembered. "He lost his parents. He was admitted to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation. The psychologist classified him as. . . ." Her voice trailed off, and she looked at the little boy. "Please don't tell me this child is remembering that."

"Wish we could, Doc," Jack responded, his voice tinged with anger.

"The Cedarnans give each clone the memories that the original had at that age," Sam explained. "As luck would have it, Daniel's clone stopped maturing in the machine at the physical age of eight, apparently right at the moment that Daniel witnessed his parents' deaths. That's likely the last memory Danny was given."

"Okay, I need to run some tests on him, and the four of you need to get your exams," Janet stated.

"I don't want to leave him," Daniel said. "He needs to know that he's not alone."

Janet gazed up at him in sympathy and understanding. "We won't leave him alone, Daniel. We'll take good care of him."

Daniel looked down at the fragile-looking little boy, whose blue eyes were staring sightlessly up at the ceiling. He took hold of Danny's hand. "I'll be right back, Danny," he said. "I promise."

He reluctantly left to go get his post-mission exam, though he insisted that it be done where he could keep Danny in sight. He watched as Janet and her nurses examined the boy, drawing some blood for analysis.

As soon as he got back from the MRI, Daniel immediately went back to Danny. There appeared to be no change in his condition.

"We got some of the bloodwork back, and, so far, everything appears normal," Janet told him, "at least physically. He does have your blood type, so the chances are greater that he is your clone rather than. . . ."

"My son?"

"I had to make sure, Daniel."

"I understand."

"We'll get the results back on the DNA tomorrow." The doctor stared down at her patient. "To be honest, I'm at a loss on how to proceed. If this was an ordinary case of a child who had suffered a traumatic incident, I'd have a child psychologist come in to treat him."

"But what he's remembering happened thirty years ago, and it didn't really happen to him. He didn't really see it." Daniel's eyes met Janet's. "But, in his mind, he did see it, Janet, and, as far as he's concerned, it's 1973, and he just witnessed the horrible death of the only family he had, except for a grandfather who couldn't spare the time to be a real part of his life. When this happened to me, there was no one there for me, nobody to give me what I needed to get through it. I had to get through it on my own. I won't let it be that way for him."

"We won't let that happen either, Daniel," the doctor assured him. "Danny will get all the love and attention he needs." She looked at her watch. "You need to get to your debriefing."

Though he'd rather have stayed with Danny, Daniel left the infirmary and headed for the briefing room. His teammates were there when he arrived.

"How's Danny?" Sam asked.

"The same."

"I'm so sorry this happened, Daniel. I wish we'd known beforehand."

"Should have known that those guys were a little too friendly and too eager to share their technology," Jack muttered. "The price tag always seems to be higher than what we're led to believe."

Hammond came in and took his seat at the head of the table. "SG-9 has already been debriefed. They reported that the Cedarnans they spoke with never gave any indication of what was going on. The people were still eager to come to a trade agreement with us."

"Well, that sure isn't going to happen now," Jack stated.

"Colonel, in spite of what happened, the fact remains that the Cedarnans have technology that may be of benefit to us."

"Oh, come on, sir. You can't tell me that we're still going to go through with it! They cloned Daniel without his permission, and they'd have done the same thing to Carter. They've secretly cloned who knows how many other people. What's to say that, if we send someone back there, they won't get cloned, too?"

"We could take precautions to see that wouldn't happen. Colonel, I understand your feelings about this, and I agree that it appears we can't trust the Cedarnans, but I'm not the one with the final say on this."

"Yeah, well, you, and I, and all the bigwigs making the decisions aren't the ones who are getting the short end of the stick in this deal. Daniel and that little kid in the infirmary are."

Everyone turned to the archeologist, who was staring at the table.

"Doctor Jackson? What do you have to say about this?" Hammond asked gently. "I've been filled in on some of the story by Doctor Fraiser, so I know what's going on."

Daniel took a deep breath and lifted his head. "I'm angry that the Cedarnans did this, especially since we trusted them and were trying to help them. Cloning any person without their permission is wrong. Though I know that they didn't anticipate what would happen with Danny, the fact remains that they created a child that will not only have to live with the memories of the death of his . . . my parents, but also with the fact that he's a clone. We won't be able to hide that from him. I don't know what that's going to do to him." He paused. "But . . . I can understand why the Cedarnans did it. They were doing what they thought they had to to save their civilization."

"You've got to be kidding me," Jack said. "You're actually going to forgive them?"

"'Forgive' is too strong of a word, Jack, at least right now, but, like I said, I do understand, and I can sympathize with them and their plight." He glanced at Sam, who gave him a tiny smile of understanding.

"So, what is your opinion on what we should do?" the general asked.

"I think that we should try our best to correct the problem that started this whole thing. And, if we can't, I think that we should find a planet for them to move to, one that doesn't have tainted water."

"That's an awful lot of effort to spend on people who were doing something that was ethically wrong," Jack stated.

Daniel turned to him. "And what would you have us do? Take away the cloning machine and lock the planet out of the dialing computer? How would it be less ethically wrong to condemn their entire civilization to extinction? They were fighting to survive, Jack. Yes, they did something that was wrong, but it was to save their world."

Daniel returned his gaze to Hammond. "What I propose is that we don't go back there until either Janet has something to neutralize that chemical or we've determined that it can't be done. If we make that neutralizer or can move them to a planet with clean water, eventually, the effects of the chemical will disappear. It'll take a while, but, in time, they will be able to reproduce normally. In the meantime, to keep their numbers from dropping further, there are other things we could do. If we remove the need for them to clone people, they won't do it anymore, and we won't have to worry about going back there and trading with them. We need to cure the problem, not turn our backs on it."

The general nodded. "You do have some valid points, Doctor Jackson. All right, I will discuss this with my superiors. Right now, though, there is another issue to deal with, namely, that little boy. Obviously, it is out of the question to return him to the planet, so we must decide what to do with him. Considering the traumatic memories he has been given, he will need to be placed with a family that can devote a lot of time to helping him recover. And then there's the issue of him being a clone, a fact that, as Doctor Jackson pointed out, cannot be kept from him forever. This is a rather touchy situation and must be handled with care."

"I'll take him," Daniel and Jack said simultaneously. The two men stared at each other.

"Daniel."

"Jack."

"Do you really think it's a good idea to take care of . . . of yourself?"

"Jack, I've been taking care of myself for a very long time now, and I seem to have done okay so far."

"That's a matter of opinion."

Daniel's glare let Jack know that he didn't appreciate the remark.

"What I'm saying, Daniel, is that I really don't think it's a good idea for you to be the one to take care of Danny. It would be way better for me to take him."

"Why?" Daniel's voice held that little note that everyone at the table recognized as saying, "I'm getting very irritated right now but I'm going to hold onto my temper."

"Well, because, for one thing, you don't have any experience raising a child, and I do."

"Did you have any experience before Charlie was born?"

"Well, no, but that's not the point. A kid like Danny would be better off with someone who knows what they're doing."

The second the words were out of Jack's mouth, he knew they had been a big mistake. Daniel's eyes had taken on a distinctly frosty look that made the colonel feel like the air conditioning had suddenly been turned up full blast. And since there wasn't any air conditioning going, Jack knew the deep freeze was being caused by the archeologist, a very pissed off archeologist.

"First of all, Jack, I find it rather insulting that you think I'd be so inept as a father," Daniel snapped out.

"I didn't mean—"

"Secondly," Daniel interrupted, not letting Jack continue, "there is one very important thing that you're failing to understand. That little boy in the infirmary is me. Everything he is feeling right now – all the pain, fear, disbelief, and numbness – is what I felt thirty years ago when I watched my parents get crushed to death underneath a coverstone."

Utter silence descended like a lead weight on the room.

"So, as far as I'm concerned, I am the only one who knows how to take care of him since not another person on this base or anywhere else can know exactly what he is experiencing right now and what he needs to keep him from withdrawing into himself and not coming out of his shell for the next year."

No longer able to meet Daniel's eyes and hide what he was feeling, Jack's gaze fell to the table as the archeologist continued.

"I'm the one who knows what needs to be said and done when he wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, trembling so hard that the whole bed is shaking. I'm the one who knows what it's going to take to get through to him and prevent him from spending the next three months in complete silence, never uttering a word. And when he starts to wish that he'd died along with his parents, I'm the one who knows what words are going to make him realize that his mom and dad wouldn't have wanted that, that they'd want him to live."

'Oh, God. Is that what happened to Daniel?' Sam thought, her eyes stinging with unshed tears.

"Trust me, Jack. He is in a very, very dark place right now. I know, because I was in that same dark place."

Another moment of silence fell upon the room. Even General Hammond and Teal'c were visibly shaken by what Daniel had said.

At last, Jack looked up, and everyone saw the pain in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Daniel," he said quietly. Everyone wondered if his words were for what he had said earlier or because of what his best friend had gone through as a child. "You're right. Danny does need you. You are the right one to take care of him."

"I can give you as long a leave of absence as you feel that you need, Doctor Jackson," Hammond said gently, thinking of what this man had gone through all those years ago and the tough road that Daniel's clone had ahead of him.

"Thank you, sir. If it's okay with you, I'd like to go back to Danny now. There's really nothing more I can contribute to the debriefing."

"Permission granted, Son. And take your time on your mission report. Taking care of that child is the most important thing right now." 


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Daniel left the briefing room and went back to the infirmary. He learned from a nurse that Danny had been moved to a private room and that Janet was with him. When the archeologist got there, he was relieved to see that Danny had apparently fallen asleep.

"I gave him a mild sedative," Janet explained. "It didn't take much to put him out. He'll probably sleep for a few hours."

Daniel shook his head. "No, he won't."

"What do you mean?"

Before Daniel could answer, there was a whimper from the bed. Danny began to grow restless, his respiration increasing.

Even as the first bloodcurdling scream tore from the boy's throat, Daniel was there, scooping him up in his arms.

"Shh. I'm here, Danny. You're safe," he murmured softly as he rocked Danny back and forth. He laid his cheek on the boy's sweat-dampened hair. "It's going to be okay. You're going to be all right. Just go to sleep and dream about all those happy times, like when Mom started teaching you how to read hieroglyphs and Dad let you excavate that statue all by yourself. Do you remember when you found the entrance to that chamber that nobody else saw? Dad was so proud of you. He said that you were a better archeologist than some of those old fuddy-duddies who taught him in school. Those are the things you need to remember, Danny, the things that showed how much they loved you."

As Daniel talked, Danny's cries faded away to a quiet whimper, which finally went silent. His movements stilled.

It was then that he did something that had Daniel's eyes filling with tears. He put his arms around Daniel's waist and whispered, "Daddy." The archeologist tightened his hold on the boy, squeezing his eyes closed against the tears.

A moment later, Danny grew quiet, slipping into a deeper sleep. Daniel looked up to see that his teammates had come in. Sam was crying, and Jack looked like he was holding onto his emotions with a great deal of effort. Teal'c's deep brown eyes were full of sadness.

Janet came forward, her own large eyes also bright with tears. She checked on Danny, running a hand through his hair.

"I think he'll be okay now."

"I'm going to stay with him. I had nightmares several times a night for the first few weeks."

"But _you_ didn't have anyone to hold you like that, did you," Jack said in a roughened voice.

"No," Daniel admitted quietly.

"Then I'd say he's going to be just fine with you taking care of him."

Jack turned and left the room, his back stiff. Teal'c followed him as he walked out of the infirmary.

"You are greatly distressed, O'Neill," the Jaffa observed.

"You've got a real talent for understatement there, T." Jack slammed the side of his fist against a wall. "Dammit! Daniel shouldn't be going through this. Neither of them should. Back when we had that lovely little vacation experience with the Keeper and I found out how Daniel's parents died and that he saw it, I didn't want to think about what that must have done to him. For an eight-year-old little kid to see something like that. God. And then he had to live through it all over again because of that Keeper. And, now, here he goes again, having to dredge up all that pain once more. Only, this time, he also has to deal with watching his clone suffer through it as well. If I was him, I don't know if I'd be willing to go through this, not if I didn't have to."

"Daniel Jackson feels that he is the best person to help his clone through this ordeal."

"And he's right about that. Watching him back there made that abundantly clear. But how many more scars is this going to leave? He's been through too damn much already."

"We must give him all the friendship and support that he needs."

Jack looked at the Jaffa. "And that's exactly what we're going to do."

* * *

Danny was sleeping soundly, his little hand clutching the front of Daniel's T-shirt. When the archeologist made a move to get off the bed, the hand had come out and grabbed on tight, refusing to let go, so Daniel made himself as comfortable as possible on the bed with him. Janet was now gone, taking care of other patients.

"What you're doing is a really wonderful thing, Daniel," Sam told him.

"It's something I _have_ to do, Sam. I can't let him go through this alone, not like I did. Jack may have offered to do it, but he doesn't know." Daniel looked down at the sleeping child. "He doesn't know what I went through, what Danny's going to go through."

Sam touched his arm, rubbing it gently. "But it's like you said, Daniel, you didn't have anyone to be there for you. Danny does. He's got you. And that's going to make all the difference in the world."

The archeologist's gaze returned to his clone. "I can't help but wonder how different he's going to be. Not having a family, being put in foster care and bounced from home to home, I learned to rely only upon myself. My books became my refuge, burying myself in them and shutting the rest of the world out. Mom and Dad's death and the life I lived afterwards shaped me into the man I am. I doubt that I'd even be in the program if they hadn't died. I'd probably have been off on a dig somewhere and never given that lecture that destroyed my academic career. I'd never have met Catherine."

"And we'd all be dead now," Sam concluded.

Daniel looked at her. "Maybe not. General West only approved that mission to Abydos because I told him I could figure out the symbols on the other side and get everyone back home. And if we never went to Abydos, Apophis would never have had a reason to attack Earth."

"Oh, come on, Daniel. You must know that, sooner or later, that mission would have been approved. The military had to make sure that any threat to Earth was eliminated, even if it would have meant sending a team on a mission they might never get back from. We know of at least two alternate realities where they went on the mission without you, and look how those turned out."

Sam gazed down at the beautiful little boy who was a mirror image of what her best friend had looked like at that age. "I don't know how this will change the way Danny is when he grows up, but there's one thing I know for sure. He's you, which means that he will grow up to be a wonderful, kind, caring man, just like you are."

Daniel's head ducked slightly in embarrassment.

The major smiled. "And he's also going to have your brains, so you'd better be well prepared."

The archeologist also smiled. "Better start saving up for the college tuition now."

"It's a good thing you make tons of money. Eight years isn't much time to save for that."

Daniel shrugged. "Just because I started at sixteen doesn't mean he will." That's when a thought hit the archeologist. "We're going to have to create a whole new identity for him, aren't we."

Sam nodded. "We did it for the colonel's clone. It shouldn't be a problem with Danny."

"There's just one big difference, Sam. Jack's clone was old enough that we had him made an emancipated adult, so there's no problem with parents not being around. Danny's eight. His records are going to have to show that he has a mother and a father, or at least _did_ have."

"Anyone who looks at the two of you together is going to assume that _you're_ his father, Daniel. They couldn't help but assume that."

"I know, which means that whatever fake records we make for him, they're going to have to show that I'm his father."

"What about his mother?"

Daniel studied Danny's face. "I don't know. He's too old to be mine and Sha're's, even if our marriage was recorded here on Earth. I, uh, I guess we'll have to invent someone," his mouth twisted in a wry grin, "some girlfriend I got pregnant." The smile disappeared. "We'll have to say she died recently, and I took the child."

"It might be better to say she was your wife, and you got divorced years ago, avoid questions of legality in you having him. It wouldn't be hard to make up fake marriage records."

"I guess you're right." Daniel fell silent for a long moment. "I have to admit that I'm feeling kind of nervous about this. For all intents and purposes, I'm going to be a father. Jack was right about one thing. I have zero experience with this. I've never even had a niece or nephew to babysit."

"Many first-time parents had no prior experience of any kind."

"Most first-time parents are bringing home a newborn baby, not an eight-year-old."

Sam smiled. "Yes, you lucky guy. You get to miss the diaper changing, two o'clock feedings, keeping the kid from putting absolutely _everything_ in his mouth, the terrible twos, and other delightful stuff like that. The hardest part is over . . . well, that is until he hits his teens."

Daniel chuckled softly. "Thanks for pointing out my blessings, Sam."

"Think nothing of it. What are friends for?" She became serious. "You do know that we'll be here to help you, don't you? You won't be alone in this."

Daniel met her earnest gaze. "I know, Sam."

"You look tired, Daniel. You should try to get some sleep."

"I can't leave him. He might have another nightmare."

"Well, you could always ask Janet to bring a cot in here."

"I guess that would work."

Sam went out to find Janet, who agreed to allow a cot to be put in the room. She made a call, requesting that one be brought to the infirmary. When the two women took the cot into Danny's room, they found Daniel fast asleep on the bed, Danny snuggled up against his chest, the archeologist's chin resting on his blond head, an arm draped over the child's body protectively.

"Now, if that wouldn't turn any woman's heart to mush, I don't know what would," Janet stated.

"Yeah," Sam agreed with a soft smile, her heart very definitely turned to mush. What she wouldn't give for a camera.

Janet got a blanket and tucked it around the two sleeping Daniels, very carefully removing the elder's glasses and placing them on the table. She then rejoined Sam.

"I'd say that he's not going to need that cot," she remarked, "at least not for a while. Come on. Let's let them sleep."

Just before following Janet out the door, Sam looked back at the sight on the bed. She felt something stir deep inside her heart, something she hadn't felt in a very, very long time. Recognizing the danger in that feeling, Sam turned away, firmly putting it out of her mind.

* * *

As conscious awareness slowly returned to Daniel's mind, he was struck with confusion for a moment, not remembering where he was. Then the memories came flooding back, and he opened his eyes – to come face to face with a pair of identically blue eyes. Danny's nose was mere inches from his, eyes searching the archeologist's face with curiosity.

"Hello," Daniel said softly, giving the boy a little smile.

Danny did not reply, his eyes still doing their intense search.

"Um . . . I guess I should introduce myself, huh. We really didn't get the chance before. As it so happens, my name is Daniel, like yours. You and I are . . . related."

Danny frowned.

"I know. You're probably wondering why you never met me before or why your mom and dad didn't mention me."

At the mention of his parents, the little boy's eyes clouded up with grief. There was a question in them as well, one that Daniel really didn't want to answer. But he knew he had no choice.

"Yes, Danny, it really happened," he murmured gently. "Your mom and dad, they . . . they died."

Tears welled up in Danny's eyes and began falling down his cheeks to wet the pillow. Though it was heartbreaking to see, Daniel was glad to see it. He had never let himself cry in front of people after his parents were killed. Whenever someone else was around, he'd always held it in, put on a brave face. Only when he was all alone had he allowed the tears to fall.

Daniel gathered Danny into his arms and held him close as the boy cried. "That's it, Danny. Let it out. I know how much it hurts, how much you're going to miss them. My . . . my mom and dad died, and it hurt for a really long time. I still miss them sometimes. But I know that they loved me, and that we had some happy years together with lots of good memories. Those good memories you have can make it better, Danny, and you need to always remember how much you were loved."

The child in his arms was sobbing quietly now, his small body shaking. Daniel simply held onto him, rubbing his hand up and down Danny's back the same way that he remembered his mom doing when she was comforting him.

Danny at last cried himself back to sleep. By then, Daniel was feeling emotionally drained. He had known that this was not going to be easy. Danny was going to need an awful lot of love and patience, especially over the next few weeks.

Daniel had not yet figured out when and how he was going to tell the boy what he really was. It would have to be done before he was taken off-base. Daniel had been a very observant and curious child, and there was no reason to believe that Danny would be otherwise. It wouldn't take him long to see the differences between the world of today and his memories of 1973. And if he watched any TV or saw a newspaper or something else with a date on it, he'd know for sure that he wasn't living in the year that his memories were telling him it should be.

But how was he going to react to the knowledge that he wasn't the real Daniel Jackson?

* * *

Since Daniel refused to leave Danny's side for more than a few minutes at a time, it was up to his teammates to make sure that he ate.

"You know, you can't stay glued to his side forever, Daniel," Jack said when he brought the archeologist some coffee. Daniel was now sitting in a chair beside the bed.

"I know. He's just . . . really fragile right now. He needs to know that he's not alone, that there's someone who cares about him and will watch over him." Daniel looked at Danny. "I don't want him to wake up alone. After Mom and Dad died, every time I woke up those first few days, I was alone, except for when a nurse came in to awaken me from a nightmare." He noticed the touch of sadness on Jack's face. "I'm sorry. I guess that must sound kind of self-pitying."

"It doesn't sound self-pitying at all Daniel. It sounds like you recounting a life that no child should ever have to have."

Daniel shrugged slightly. "I got used to it. I came to value the solitude I was given by my foster families since it gave me the ability to devote my attention to my studies."

"But how many times did you wish that there was somebody who would just hold you?"

Daniel's gaze immediately dropped to the floor, his expression closed off. "I did get hugs, sometimes. Some of my foster families were really nice, people who fostered kids because they loved children. Most of those people, though, had several kids, so they didn't have a lot of time to devote to each individual child. And I was shy, kept to myself, so I didn't involve myself in family stuff very much." He looked back at Danny. "I survived."

"Like you always do." Jack couldn't help but wonder if Daniel's remarkable ability to survive and rise above all the crap life threw at him was forged in those childhood years following the death of his parents.

"I want his life to be better," Daniel murmured.

"It will be, Daniel, with you there to take care of him."

"I didn't think about this before. What am I going to do when I'm on a mission? We're sometimes gone for days."

"I guess you'll have to find someone who is willing to take him in while you're gone."

Daniel was silent for several seconds. "I may have to leave SG-1."

Jack didn't respond. He didn't want to lose Daniel from the team, especially since they'd only just gotten him back a few months ago. But if there was any reason for Daniel leaving that Jack would be willing to accept, it would be this.

"I really don't want to see that happen, but I guess you'll just have to play it by ear, see how things work out," he said at last.

A movement from the bed alerted the two men to the fact that Danny was waking up. Daniel got up from his chair and stood over the bed.

The boy's enormous blue eyes opened and looked up at him.

"Hi," Daniel greeted with a smile. "How are you feeling?" Danny didn't answer, as the archeologist had expected. "I bet you're hungry. Am I right?"

There was a small hesitation, then Danny nodded.

"Actually, I'm pretty hungry, too. How about if I go get us something to eat?"

The fear that flashed through Danny's eyes was so fleeting that Daniel would have missed it if he hadn't been paying very close attention. The boy was now trying to look like it was okay, but his hands were clutching the sheet a little too tightly, and Daniel wasn't buying it.

Jack, too, had seen the fear and stepped closer. "Hello there, Danny. I'm Jack, a friend of Daniel's. I was thinking that I could go get the food. Then you and this guy here can spend some more quality, _conscious_ time together. How's that sound?"

Both men saw the boy relax, his eyes flitting back and forth between the two men. He gave another little nod.

"Great!" Jack clapped his hands together. "So, what'll it be? I'll warn you. The food in this place isn't the best in the world. In fact, some of it is downright deadly, but there are a few things on the menu that are actually edible, like, um . . . waffles!"

Daniel had to hide his reaction with an effort so that neither Danny nor Jack would see it. Jack still noticed it, though, and decided that he'd have to ask the archeologist about it later.

"I think, uh . . . waffles would be good," Daniel said. He looked at Danny. "Would that be all right with you?"

This nod was a bit more energetic.

Jack smiled. "Waffles it is, then."

Daniel gave him a look. "Good luck talking the cook into making waffles at five o'clock in the afternoon."

"Hey, I'm not a colonel for nothing, you know."

Jack sauntered out of the room. When Daniel turned back to Danny, he saw that the boy was frowning slightly.

"What's wrong?"

Danny's eyes flitted to the door.

"Oh. You're wondering about Jack? He and I go way back. In fact, he's one of my very best friends."

Hesitantly, Danny reached out and fingered Daniel's shirt.

"Ah. You're wondering why we're dressed alike." Daniel thought over his words before answering. "Well, you see, this is a kind of military base, and we both work here. And now you're probably wondering why _you're_ here. That's a really long story, one that we should probably wait until you're feeling better before going into. And, before you ask, no, I'm not in the military, I just work for them. Actually, I'm an archeologist, like your parents."

A little spark of interest lit within Danny's eyes.

"In fact, my specialty is ancient Egypt, too," Daniel continued.

The interest grew brighter.

"On top of that, I'm also a linguist. You know what that is, right? Your mom was one."

Danny's head bobbed up and down.

Daniel leaned down closer. "I happen to know that you love learning new languages. Since I can speak, oh, around thirty of them, I bet I could teach you a few."

Danny's eyes were bright with excitement now, which made Daniel so happy that he wanted to laugh. Instead, he gave the little boy a smile and ruffled his hair.

Just then, Daniel's bladder told him that it was full, and that made him realize that Danny probably needed to go as well.

"Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

There was another nod.

"Come on, then."

Danny got out of the bed, and Daniel led him over to the private bathroom. Knowing that the boy would prefer some privacy, he stayed outside as Danny went in.

"Don't forget to wash your hands," Daniel instructed as he shut the door, leaving it open a tiny crack. He stood there until Danny was finished and came out. "My turn now."

When Daniel exited the bathroom, he found Danny wandering around the room, looking at things. The hem of the hospital gown, which would have come up to around Daniel's knees, was being held bunched up in Danny's hand so that he wouldn't trip over it.

_'I guess Janet didn't have any extra small sizes,'_ he mused. _'We're going to have to get him some clothes.' _

The archeologist knew that keeping Danny isolated in here was not the right thing to do. When this happened to Daniel, he hadn't wanted to go out in public and be around a bunch of strangers. He had wanted to stay in his room, where it was safe. But Daniel knew that had actually hindered his recovery. Danny needed to be given human contact and interaction, lots of it.

The archeologist went to the phone and called the main ward and asked for Janet.

"He's awake, and we're waiting for Jack to come feed us," he told her. "I thought that you might want to introduce yourself and ask him whatever doctor questions you need to."

"I'll be right there," Janet responded.

She arrived a moment later. Danny gazed at her uncertainly.

"Hello, Daniel," she said with a gentle smile. "I'm Doctor Fraiser, but you can call me Janet. I'm the doctor who has been taking care of you since you came here. I'm Daniel's doctor, too, so he can vouch for me."

"She's a very good doctor, Danny," Daniel confirmed. He paused, smiling slightly. "Even if she is kind of bossy sometimes."

Janet gave him a little slap on the arm. "I see big needles in your future," she muttered.

"Oh, boy. I'm in trouble now." He rubbed his butt cheek with a grimace. "I can feel them already."

When Daniel and Janet looked at Danny, they were delighted to see that he was smiling.

"So, how are _you_ feeling, young man?" the doctor asked.

The smile vanished as Danny backed up a step, covering his behind with his hands.

Janet burst into laughter. "Don't worry. You aren't going to get any shots."

Looking like he wasn't quite sure if he could trust her, he let his hands fall to his sides.

"Okay, sit up on the bed."

With a little boost from Daniel, Danny did as he was told. Janet pulled out a tongue depressor.

"Open up."

The mouth came open and the depressor went in.

"Yep, everything looks good inside there." She peered into his ears next. "All fine in there, too."

Daniel knew that Janet had already given Danny a complete exam and realized that this was her way of putting him at ease.

"Are you hurting anywhere?" she asked.

Danny shook his head. At that moment, his stomach growled loudly.

Janet frowned. "Uh oh. Sounds like a terminal case of hunger to me." Janet clucked her tongue. "We've got to treat this immediately, before it's too late."

Right on cue, Jack walked in. "Colonel Jack O'Neill to the rescue, ma'am," he announced. "You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to get these waffles. I just about had to sell my soul, so you guys had better appreciate it." He brought the tray of food over and set it on the overbed table. He handed one plate to the archeologist, then positioned the table in front of Danny. "Dig in."

Danny wasted no time in pouring syrup on the waffles and begin shoveling them into his mouth. Daniel sat beside him on the bed and started eating his.

"Well, since this patient appears to be saved from death by starvation, I'll go back out and attend to the rest of my patients," Janet said.

"Wait, Janet. I wanted to talk to you about something," Daniel told her. "I'll walk out with you."

Danny immediately stopped eating, that hint of fright in his eyes again.

"I'll be right back, Danny," Daniel assured him.

"I'll stay with you, kid," Jack said.

Daniel pointed at the colonel. "Don't you eat my waffles."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Jack claimed with a perfectly straight face.

Daniel left with the doctor, the two of them walking far enough away from the closed door so as not to be heard by the occupants.

"I want to get Danny out of the room," the archeologist said.

"I think it's a little too early for that, Daniel. He seems to be doing better, but the fact that he's still not talking proves that he's got a long way to go."

"Janet, I know what Danny wants, but I also know what he needs, and what he needs is to be around people, to have plenty of human contact. If he doesn't get that, he'll just go deeper into his shell."

Janet gazed up at him. "Are you speaking from experience?"

"Yes. The people who tended to me in the beginning made the mistake of giving me what I wanted, which was to stay where I thought it was safe, where there weren't a lot of strangers and loud noises. For months after the accident, loud crashing sounds scared me to death and often made me flash back on that coverstone falling. When my grandfather took me to breakfast after the funeral, I had to hide how scared I was. I think that if I'd been slowly exposed to all that stuff, not allowed to hide away, I'd have been a lot better off."

Janet nodded. "Okay, Daniel. You're definitely the expert when it comes to Danny, so I'll trust your judgment. He can leave the infirmary tomorrow."

"Thanks. Somebody needs to get him some clothes, though."

"I can take care of that when I go home tonight."

Daniel went back into the room. As he walked up to the bed, he saw that his plate of waffles was missing.

"Where are my waffles?" he asked, eyes narrowing.

"What waffles?" Jack responded innocently. He turned to Danny. "Did you see any waffles?"

Appearing as if he was trying really hard not to laugh, Danny shook his head.

"Jack?"

"Daniel?"

"I want my waffles, Jack. If you don't give me my waffles, I will make you listen as I recite the entire line of Egyptian kings and the names of all their wives and children."

With amazing speed, the plate of waffles appeared from behind Jack's back.

"You don't play fair, Daniel," he groused. He turned to Danny, leaning down to whisper, "He was going to make me listen to the names of all those boring Egyptians. Now, that's just plain cruel."

Danny couldn't hold it in any longer and started laughing. Daniel and Jack shared a smile.

The colonel got to his feet. "Since you're more interested in your waffles than in your best buddy, I'm going to go find someplace where I'm wanted," he said in a mock tone of effrontery.

Daniel sat in the spot Jack had vacated on the bed and scooped up a mouthful. "See you later, Jack," he mumbled around the food.

"I get no respect," Jack huffed as he walked out the door, shutting it behind him.

Daniel looked down at the boy sitting beside him. "So, do you think I should tell him that we don't actually know all those names?"

The boy shook his head, smiling.

"You're right. I may need to use it to threaten him again."

Danny's large blue eyes gazed up at him for a very long minute, then the boy leaned in, wrapped his arms around Daniel's waist, and laid his head on the archeologist's chest. His throat tightening, Daniel held the child in a gentle embrace. They remained like that for several seconds before Danny pulled away.

Daniel finished his waffles, which were now completely cold, then moved the table away from the bed. He turned to face Danny.

"So, how would you like to get out of here?"

There was no attempt to hide the fear this time. Danny's head gave a little shake.

"Oh, come on. You can't tell me that you're not curious about what's out there. Have you ever been on a military base before?"

Danny hesitated, then shook his head again.

"Well, this one is especially cool. It's inside a mountain."

That clearly surprised the boy, the fear being replaced a bit by curiosity.

"Besides, if we don't leave here, how am I going to show you my office . . . with all the books and artifacts?"

The curiosity began to overwhelm the fear.

"And then there's the artifact cataloging and storage room. Oh, and the research library."

That did it. The fear was gone, replaced by intense curiosity. Daniel knew that when the time actually came for them to leave the room, the fear would return, but at least Danny now had something exciting to look forward to, which would help ease his fear.

There was a soft knock on the door, then it opened to reveal Sam, who smiled.

"Hey. I thought I'd come by and say hi." She stepped into the room.

"Danny, this is another really good friend of mine, Sam, which is short for Samantha," Daniel introduced.

Sam walked up to them. "Hello, Danny. It's nice to meet you." She held out her hand, which the boy shook after a short pause. She sat in a chair. "So, what's up, guys?"

"Well, Danny and I were just talking about him getting out of here," Daniel replied.

"Really? That's great. I hate being in the infirmary," she told the boy, "so I should imagine that you're eager to be set free."

Danny's expression of uncertainty told the major a lot. She looked at Daniel for confirmation.

"Danny's just a little nervous about it," he said.

"Ah. Well, I guess that's understandable. It can be kind of scary going places you've never been to before. Of course, with all the traveling I do, I had to get used to it. But I have to tell you. Some places are pretty strange. And we won't go into the weird food some places have. I mean, there are plenty of new things I'm willing to try, but I draw the line at bugs." She made a disgusted face. "Fortunately, they don't serve bugs in our commissary. However, they _do_ serve ice cream."

"And cake," Daniel added, knowing what Sam was doing.

"And pie. Mustn't forget about that, although, personally, I'm partial to the blue Jell-O."

An expression of longing was now on the little boy's face.

"I suppose that we'll have to stop by the commissary when we're out and about tomorrow," Daniel commented, "just to make sure that the ice cream is up to its usual standards."

"Most definitely," Sam agreed. "They might even have those brownie bites to put on it." She'd have to go out and buy a package of brownies tonight. "Hey. Would it be okay if I joined you two tomorrow?"

Daniel looked at Danny. "What do you think? Should we let her tag along?"

The little boy appeared to consider it for a moment, then he nodded.

Sam grinned. "Great! This'll be fun." She got to her feet. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Bye, Sam." Daniel met her eyes. "Thanks."

She smiled back at him and nodded, then left.

"Isn't she nice?" Daniel asked.

Danny nodded.

"Sam's great, and she's really smart, too. Just don't ask her any scientific questions. You won't understand most of what she says. It's like a foreign language . . . one I haven't learned." Daniel studied his clone's face. "Are you getting tired?"

Danny shook his head.

"Okay. So, what would you like to talk about?"

The question was answered with a shrug.

Daniel snapped his fingers. "I know. How about if I talk about some of the digs I've been on?"

That suggestion received a nod.

For the next three hours, Daniel shared with the boy a few of his archeological adventures. At first, he stuck to digs that were on Earth, then he moved on to the more exciting stuff off-world, changing the location of the adventure and referring to aliens and off-world humans as "natives." Danny listened with wide-eyed wonder to Daniel's tales of hair-raising adventures, mysterious puzzles, and secret chambers.

"I bet you didn't know that archeology could be like that, did you?"

Danny shook his head emphatically.

"Neither did I, well, at least not quite _that_ exciting and death defying. I sometimes feel like Indiana Jones." Danny's frown of puzzlement made Daniel realize his mistake. "He's a character in the movies, an archeologist," he explained. "You'll have to see them sometime."

Seeing that Danny's eyelids were beginning to grow heavy, Daniel asked him to get in the bed. As he tucked the boy in, a little hand snaked out and grabbed his sleeve, the fear back in his eyes. Daniel gave the hand a squeeze.

"I won't leave, Danny," he promised. "I'll be here when you wake up."

Relaxing, Danny closed his eyes. A moment later, he was asleep. Gazing down at him, Daniel felt his emotions spill over. At that moment, the boy before him wasn't a clone of himself, he was the child that, in many ways, was going to be his son.

"We'll get through this, Danny," Daniel murmured, "you and I together." 


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

There was a soft knock on the door, and Janet came in. Seeing that Danny was asleep, she smiled.

"How's it going in here?"

"All right," Daniel replied. "He's afraid to leave the room, which I expected." He gazed at his clone. "He's reacting differently in some ways than what I did, though."

"What ways?"

"Clingy, is a good word, I guess. And . . . he just seems younger."

Janet's head shook a bit. "That's very common, Daniel. Children who have suffered this kind of emotional trauma often revert to a younger age in their behavior. Thumb-sucking and bed-wetting are common symptoms."

"Well, he hasn't wet the bed yet, so I can be grateful for that."

"You didn't react this way when it happened to you?"

"I don't think so. I really didn't have anyone to cling to, so that never happened. Looking back on it in later years, I know that I lost a big chunk of my childhood the day Mom and Dad died. Being put in the care of strangers who really didn't know how to deal with me, only to be continually passed on to other strangers, I felt like I couldn't let myself be a little kid."

"And that's why it's different with Danny. He's not having to deal with that. From the moment he woke up, you've been right there for him. He can feel like it's safe to be a child." Janet gave him a smile. "He's going to be fine, Daniel. Don't worry. So, can I get you anything?"

"Some coffee would be great," he glanced at his watch, "but I guess I'd better not. Something to read would be good, or maybe my laptop."

"I suppose that medical journals aren't what you had in mine."

"Not exactly."

"Okay, I'll see what I can come up with. We have a few magazines around here for the patients. Would Reader's Digests and National Geographics be okay?"

"Sure."

After providing Daniel with a small pile of reading material, Janet returned to her duties. About an hour after she left, Jack peeked in the door.

"Ah, I see that the Mini-Daniel is asleep again." He came in the rest of the way, quietly shutting the door. "How's it going?"

"All right. There's been ups and downs."

"Understandable." Jack pulled up the other chair. "Okay, so what's the deal about waffles?"

Daniel stared at him. "What?"

"When I suggested waffles for dinner, you looked pretty startled."

"Oh. Um, after my parents' funeral, Nick took me to a cafe for breakfast. I had waffles."

"I'm sorry, Daniel. I didn't know."

"It's okay."

Jack's tone changed, darkened. "And was that when he told you that he wasn't going to take you in?"

"No. He waited until afterwards. He took me to a park and broke it to me there." Daniel paused. "He was on a plane back to Belize that night."

Jack cursed silently, thinking of a few choice words he'd like to say to Nick Ballard. "I wanted to let you know that Hammond's already talked to several people about this. He doesn't think there will be any big problems with getting permission for you to take Danny. Some people thought it would be a bad idea, that he should be taken in by a family out of the area to avoid all the questions about where this kid who looks so much like you came from."

Daniel looked at him. "The same people who thought that your clone should live out of the area?"

"Yep. And, like then, they were overruled by those who thought otherwise. They agreed that it would be safer to keep Danny nearby, especially with him being only eight years old and more likely to reveal something he shouldn't."

"Well, no matter what they decide, I'm taking Danny," Daniel announced firmly. "If I have to live with him off-world, I will."

"It isn't going to come to that. I promise you." Jack got to his feet. "Get some sleep, Daniel. You're going to need it these next few days."

Jack quietly left the room. Daniel gazed at Danny for several long seconds, silently promising that he'd do anything it took to keep the boy in his care.

* * *

The scream woke Daniel up out of a sound sleep. He nearly fell off the cot in his rush to get to the bed. The second he had Danny in his arms, he was talking to him soothingly, trying to chase away the horrifying nightmare images. Danny responded after a moment by grabbing on with a strength that seemed to belie the smallness of his body. He woke up a short while later.

Daniel wiped the wetness from the boy's face. "You okay?" he asked gently.

For a moment, Danny looked as if he was going to nod yes, but, instead, there was a tiny shake of his head. Daniel tightened his hold.

"I know, Danny. You can't really be okay, can you. I wasn't either when this happened to me, when my mom and dad died."

The boy looked up at him questioningly. Daniel wasn't sure what the question was, so he made a guess. "I was the same age as you are. But I didn't have anyone. There was nobody to love me and make things better." He looked down at Danny intently. "But you do. You have me, and you have Jack, and Sam, and Janet, and Teal'c. You haven't met Teal'c yet, but I think you'll like him, though he's pretty big and can be kind of scary-looking. We're all going to be your family. You won't ever be alone. I promise."

Danny laid his head on Daniel's chest with a deep sigh.

"Do you think you can go back to sleep?"

There was a long pause before Danny answered with a small nod. When the archeologist tried to move off the bed, though, the boy clung to him even tighter.

Daniel remembered that, whenever he had a nightmare as a very young child, his mother would sing to him, sometimes in English, other times in Arabic, French or German. He thought back to that time and recalled an Arabic lullaby that he had especially liked.

Feeling a little self-conscious, Daniel began to sing it, remembering the words as he went along. Danny lifted his head and looked at him in surprise, obviously recognizing the song. The archeologist gave him a smile and kept on singing. After a moment, Danny smiled, too, and laid his head back down. It was only a short while later that he fell asleep.

Very carefully, Daniel managed to get off the bed. He brushed a hand through the child's golden locks, then returned to the cot.

All things considered, Danny was doing pretty well, better than Daniel had. He'd only had two nightmares so far, way few than Daniel had the first day and night. _He'd_ woken up screaming so many times that first night that somebody finally gave him a sedative heavy enough to keep him out, not the proper way to treat the problem, but understandable when there were other patients to consider.

Daniel hoped that Danny doing so much better than he did meant that the boy wouldn't stay in his self-imposed silence for long. The archeologist had no illusions that, in the morning, Danny would wake up and be perfectly fine, but he was way further down the road to recovery than Daniel had been at this point. Maybe in a couple of weeks, he'd be well enough to leave the base and go home.

A new realization hit Daniel. His house only had one bedroom. Where was Danny going to sleep? It would be the worst thing in the world for the boy to get used to sharing a bed. He had to learn that being in a room by himself didn't mean that he was being abandoned. Though, on digs, Daniel and his parents all slept in the same tent, he'd had his own room whenever they were back at their house in the U.S. Danny needed to get back to sleeping alone as soon as he was emotionally able to handle it.

_'I'll need to move,'_ Daniel concluded. _'I guess it's a good thing I went with a rental rather than buying a house.' _

With that thought in mind, Daniel closed his eyes, but sleep did not return, his mind full of everything that was going to have to be done to prepare for the addition of a child to his life. It was hours later before he finally joined Danny in sleep.

* * *

"Good morning, you two!" Sam greeted brightly as she came in.

"Morning, Sam," Daniel said, smiling. "You're just in time. Danny and I were about to go get breakfast." He yawned. "And coffee."

Danny nervously fidgeted with the sleeve of his new shirt. Janet had brought in some clothing first thing this morning, telling Daniel that it had been kind of fun shopping for a little boy. It was very clear that Danny was scared about leaving the room.

"I heard that they've got pancakes this morning," Sam said, "and three different syrups, maple, blueberry and raspberry. Oh, and powered sugar, too." Though the SGC's commissary often served pancakes, the blueberry and raspberry syrups were a special addition Sam bought especially for Danny. The powered sugar came from her kitchen.

"Mmm. Sounds good," Daniel said. "I'm starving." He held out his hand to Danny. "Come on. Let's get something to eat."

Danny took his hand and held on tight as they headed for the door. Once they were out of the room, the boy's eyes began darting about everywhere. He stayed close to Daniel even as he was craning his head around to look at what was behind them.

As they waited for the elevator, Sam stepped a little closer and held her hand out. Danny looked at it, then up at her, searching her eyes. She gave him a smile. After a few seconds, he slipped his hand in hers.

A while later, the three of them entered the commissary hand-in-hand. Getting trays, plates and silverware, they got in line for the food. Daniel let Danny pick whatever he wanted for breakfast, which, not surprisingly, was pancakes. He also got some sausages and a little bowl of peaches with whipped cream on top. After finding a table, Sam went to get the flavored syrups and powered sugar, which she'd hidden in the kitchen, telling the people on duty there that they were to leave them alone on pain of death . . . or, at the very least, dismemberment. Danny nearly drowned his pancakes in the blueberry syrup and sugar.

"Good morning, good morning, kids!" Jack greeted cheerfully as he plopped his tray down at the table.

"Good morning, sir," Sam responded.

Jack looked at Danny's plate. "Wait a minute. Blueberry syrup? Powered sugar? How come I didn't get any of that?"

Danny took the bottle of blueberry syrup and handed it to the colonel.

"Why thank you, Danny," Jack said with a smile.

The boy then gave him the sugar, and Jack thanked him again. He got busy coating his own pancakes with the sweet goodness.

"So, what are you three up to today?" he asked.

"We're going to be taking Danny on a tour of the base," Daniel replied.

"Really? Cool. It's a pretty neat place."

Just then, Teal'c approached. Danny stopped eating, his eyes widening slightly at the sight of the big Jaffa.

"Danny, this is Teal'c, the person I was telling you about," Daniel explained.

Teal'c inclined his head. "It is an honor to meet you, young Daniel Jackson."

The boy's eyes locked on the gold emblem on the Jaffa's forehead.

"It is a religious symbol of my people," Teal'c explained. "It or symbols like it are placed upon the foreheads of both males and females."

Apparently accepting the explanation, Daniel resumed eating.

"Pull up a chair, T," Jack instructed.

The group ate their breakfast, Jack, Sam and Daniel keeping up a steady conversation to make Danny feel at ease. For obvious reasons, they limited it to topics that had nothing to do with work.

"So, Danny. You like hockey?" Jack asked. The boy shook his head, which made Jack look at Daniel. "Should have known that, I guess." He returned his gaze to Danny. "I'll have to do something about changing that. Never managed to with this guy." He jerked a thumb at the archeologist. "No appreciation for the finer things in life."

"Jack, to me, the finer things in life do not include watching a bunch of men with anger management problems skating around on the ice as they shove each other into walls and get into fights."

"Hey. They don't fight that often." Jack paused. "Well, not _all_ the time. Besides, that's part of the thrill of it all."

"Uh huh. Thanks, but no thanks."

After everyone had finished breakfast, Jack and Teal'c went off to work as Sam and Daniel began the tour with Danny. The boy was fascinated with Level 19, the level with the science labs. In her lab, Sam showed him how a few of the devices worked, picking things that weren't too technologically advanced.

After that, they went up to Level 18 and Daniel's office. The moment they entered the room, Danny's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. He was looking everywhere at once, so excited that he let go of Daniel's and Sam's hands without any encouragement to go wandering around the room. Smiling, Daniel pulled a few artifacts off the shelves and put them on the table so that the boy could take a closer look. It was clear to both adults that he desperately wanted to touch them.

Daniel picked one up and held it out to him. Surprised, Danny looked at him. "Go ahead. Just be very careful."

Almost reverently, Danny took the statue. He studied it, eyes skimming across the hieroglyphs. Daniel knew that this clone of himself would have no trouble translating the simple inscription.

"Major Carter, please call Doctor Carver's lab," came a voice over the loudspeaker, startling Danny, who almost dropped the statue. Daniel caught it just in time. Shamefaced, the child stepped back, eyes on the floor as he wrapped his arms around himself in a self-hug that Sam instantly recognized.

"It's okay, Danny," Daniel assured him. "It kind of startled me, too."

"I guess I'd better see what that's about," Sam said. She went to the phone and called Carver. After a brief conversation, she hung up. "I've got to go," she announced with a sigh. "He's having problems with that device from P—" She halted herself just in time. "Peking," she said instead, not being able to think of anything else. She looked at Danny. "I guess you two will have to continue the tour without me."

Disappointment passed over the boy's face but was quickly gone. Sam knelt before him.

"You know, I didn't forget about that conversation we had yesterday about ice cream. How about if I meet you guys back in the commissary sometime after lunch, like around two o'clock?"

"Sounds good to me," Daniel said.

Danny nodded, smiling slightly.

"Good." Not able to help herself, Sam leaned forward and gave Danny a hug. The boy hugged her back.

With a bright smile, Sam said goodbye and left.

"Would you like to look at some books?" Daniel asked. "I've got some great volumes on ancient Egypt." Danny gave him a nod.

The man and boy spent quite a while poring over the books in Daniel's office. While they were at it, the archeologist taught Danny how to read a few words in some languages that he knew the boy hadn't learned yet.

They were deep in a volume about the pharaohs when there was a knock on the doorjamb. They looked up to see an airman standing there.

"Doctor Jackson, SG-5 just came back with a, uh . . . artifact that General Hammond would like you to take a look at. He's waiting for you in the control room. It's rather important, sir."

Daniel glanced at Danny, who was staring at him with an expression of surprise.

"Tell the general that I'll be there as soon as I can," the archeologist said.

"Thank you, sir."

As the airman left, Daniel turned back to Danny. "I guess I should have told you that my last name is Jackson, too. In case you're wondering, no I'm not your dad's brother, but we are, uh, closely related. Um . . . Danny, I need to go see this artifact, and I'm afraid that you can't come with me." Daniel watched fear fill the boy's eyes. "Hey, it's okay. I won't be gone long. I'll take you back to the infirmary, and Janet can watch you till I get back." Danny was now hugging himself again, his little shoulders hunched up. Daniel knelt down and took hold of those shoulder. "Look at me, Danny," he ordered. The boy met his eyes. "I'm not going away like your mom and dad. I have a job here, and I'm just going to go off and do it. I _will_ be back. You understand?"

For a long time, Danny just stared into his eyes, then he gave a tiny nod. Daniel gave his arms a rub.

"Okay, let's go."

Gathering up a few books, he took the boy back to the infirmary, explaining the situation to Janet.

"We'll watch him for you, Daniel," she assured him. "There are only a few patients, and none of them are serious, so I can spare some time."

"Thanks, Janet. Here are some books for him to look at." The archeologist handed them to her. "I'll be back as soon as I'm able." He looked down at Danny, who was still scared, but was now trying to hide it. "Be a good boy while I'm gone, all right?"

The nod this time was almost infinitesimal.

"Oh, before you go, Daniel, I got the results back on the DNA." Janet met his gaze. "It's been confirmed."

Daniel looked down at the little boy he now knew with certainty was him. He returned his eyes to Janet. "Okay. Thanks."

Daniel hurried to the gate room, figuring that the sooner he got there, the sooner he could get back to Danny. He would have to request that his leave start right away so that nobody would bother him, although, until he and Danny were off the base, there was still the chance that somebody would request his help.

"I apologize for calling you, Doctor Jackson," Hammond said when he got to the control room. "I wouldn't have done so if I didn't think it was necessary." He walked over to the window looking down upon the gate room, Daniel following him. The archeologist's eyes widened slightly at the sight below.

A three-foot-tall statue stood a few feet from the base of the ramp. It appeared to be carved from some kind of crystal. Bright lights were dancing within it, putting on a dazzling display.

"The lights brightened substantially after SG-5 first brought it through. We had it scanned, but whatever it's made from blocked the scanner's ability to detect any kind of energy pattern. I was tempted to send it back through the gate, but the statue was given to us as a gift by the people of M1J-990, and, since we want to establish negotiations with them, I was concerned about offending them. There are words inscribed on the statue, and I was hoping you could read them."

Daniel went down to the gate room. He approached the statue with caution, kneeling down to peer at the writing.

"It's some kind of cuneiform, Old Persian, I think," he muttered. "Wish I had my books." His eyes scanned the symbols carved into the statue. "May the gods bring . . . prosperity to those who worship them and death to those who. . . ." Daniel's voice trailed off as he read the next words. He abruptly got to his feet and backed up.

"Dial the gate!" he yelled. "Anywhere that doesn't have people! It's booby-trapped!"

The technician immediately began the dialing sequence as an alarm started blaring through the base. Hammond ordered all the personnel out of the control room, except for those who had to stay. The hallways near the gate room were also cleared, as was the gate room itself, except for Daniel and Major Harper, the leader of SG-5, who volunteer to help throw the statue through the Stargate.

The second the wormhole was established, Daniel and Harper grabbed the statue and ran up the ramp. With all their might, they tossed the thing toward the gate and threw themselves down.

As the statue passed through the wormhole, it exploded, sending razor-sharp shards of crystal everywhere. An agonizing pain in Daniel's left arm told him that he'd been hit.

The gate shut down, and people ran into the room, hurrying up to the two men on the ramp. Daniel sat up with a wince.

"You okay?" he asked Harper, who was bleeding from a cut over his left temple and another on his right calf.

"Yeah. You?"

Daniel held onto his arm. "Definitely been worse." He winced again. "Been better, too."

Jack rushed in, cursing when he saw Daniel.

"What the hell happened?"

"I'd say that the negotiations with M1J-990 are off," the archeologist replied.

Jack looked at the blood on Daniel and Harper and the deadly crystal shards all over the floor. "Ya think?"

"We need to get them to the infirmary, sir," a corpsman said.

Because of the shard in his leg, Harper was put on a gurney, but Daniel insisted on walking. Sam and Teal'c were hurrying off the elevator just as they got to it.

"Daniel!" Sam cried. "What happened?"

"Booby-trapped statue. I'll explain later."

With the gurney in there, there wasn't enough room on the elevator for everyone, so Daniel's teammates would either have to wait for it to come back down or take the stairs. They chose to wait.

When the two injured men got to the infirmary, Janet hurried up to them.

"Janet, where's Danny?" Daniel immediately asked.

"He's in my office. When the alarm went off, it terrified him. I was trying to calm him when we got the call that there were possible injuries in the gate room."

Daniel headed straight toward the office.

"Daniel, stop! You need to be treated. That arm is bleeding pretty badly."

"It'll wait," he declared.

Janet grabbed his good arm, trying to halt his progress. "Daniel, listen to me. What do you think seeing that blood is going to do to Danny?"

The archeologist came to a dead stop. He looked down at himself. Janet was right. The sight of all that blood would probably send the boy into a panic, thinking that Daniel was going to die like his parents.

"You're right. I can't let him see me like this."

He let Janet lead him over to a bed, where she cut the shirt away from his arm. His teammates came hurrying in.

"Sam, you need to go take care of Danny," Daniel said. "He's in Janet's office, and he's scared. Don't tell him I'm hurt."

Sam wasted no time in going to the office. She found Danny huddled in the corner.

"Hey. It's okay," she said, sitting down and setting him on her lap. He grabbed onto her shirt with both hands. "There was just a little accident, that's all. Nobody got seriously hurt."

At the word "accident," Danny's eyes got impossibly huge. He looked up at Sam, his respiration speeding up. He began mouthing something over and over again, and it took a moment for Sam to realize it was the word "Daniel."

_'Crap,'_ she cursed silently. What was she going to say now? "Daniel's okay. He just got a little cut on his arm. He'll be fine."

Danny struggled out of her arms and ran out of the office before Sam could stop him. He hurdled full-speed into the infirmary, then came to a screeching halt as he saw Daniel. Upon seeing the blood, he let out a little wailing sound, which the archeologist heard.

Ignoring the fact that Janet was holding some forceps, which she was about to use to pull out a piece of crystal embedded in his arm, he jumped off the bed and rushed over to the little boy, who was almost hyperventilating. He went to his knees and grabbed Danny in a one-armed hug.

"Danny! I'm okay! I'm okay!" He grasped the back of the boy's head and made him look straight into Daniel's eyes. "Danny, listen to me. Look at me! I'm all right. See? I'm all right."

The panic-filled eyes focused on his, and the awareness that Daniel was okay filtered into them. He hurled himself at the archeologist, wrapping his arms around Daniel's neck in a virtual stranglehold.

Daniel awkwardly picked Danny up with his good arm and went back to the bed, sitting down with the child in his lap.

"Daniel?" Janet said questioningly.

"I'd say that you're going to have to finish with him here, Janet, because I don't think he's going to budge."

The doctor looked at Danny, whose face was pressed into Daniel's chest, eyes tightly closed.

Accepting the presence of the child, Janet resumed treating Daniel. She got the shard out of his arm, then stitched him up and bandaged him.

"There you go. Some Tylenol should be enough for the pain once the local wears off." She got some antibiotics. "And take these. I don't want to take the chance of that getting infected. We don't know what kind of bacteria might have been on that thing. I need to draw some blood so that we can check for any contaminants, and we're also going to examine some of the crystal." They had to be sure that the statue hadn't been coated with some kind of poison.

The blood was quickly drawn, then Janet told him he was all set.

"Thanks." Daniel looked down at Danny, who hadn't budged. "Hey, Danny, I'm all fixed up. Want to take a look?"

The boy lifted his head a little and looked at Daniel's injured arm. He cautiously touched the bandage.

"Like I said, Janet does good work." Daniel met Danny's eyes. "I need to change my shirt and wash up a bit. You want to come with me to the locker room?" He didn't really need to see the nod to know the answer.

Danny had a tight grip on Daniel's hand as they headed to the locker room. The archeologist sat on the bench in front of his locker.

"Could you help me get my shirt off?"

With the boy's help, the torn and bloodied BDU shirt and the T-shirt beneath were removed.

"Well, those are definitely no good anymore. The trash is over there. Could you toss them in for me?" Daniel pointed at the wastebasket, which was a few yards away.

Danny hesitated, obviously not wanting to leave Daniel's side. The archeologist was just about to give him some encouragement, when he apparently decided that it was safe to go that far. He took the clothing over to the basket and tossed it in, then walked back to Daniel, who gave him a smile and thanked him.

They went to a sink in the bathroom, where Daniel let Danny wash the blood off his arm all around the bandage, thinking that it would be good for the boy to see that it was just blood and not something that meant that Daniel was dying.

Once the cleaning up was done, they went back to the locker, where Daniel got a fresh T-shirt, which Danny helped put on. The local anesthetic was beginning to wear off by then, and Daniel winced as they got the shirt on over his head. Danny was looking at him with worried eyes. He gave the boy a little hug.

"I'm okay. It just hurts a bit." Daniel got a bottle of Tylenol from his locker. "But that's what these are for." He met Danny's eyes. "There's a drinking fountain around the corner with little cups. Could you get me some water? It's right over there." He pointed in the right direction. "I'll wait here."

For a while, Daniel didn't think that Danny was going to do it. He was getting ready to say never mind when his clone hesitantly left his side and headed around the corner. He was soon returning with a cup of water, which he gave to Daniel.

"Thank you."

Daniel took some of the pain relievers and the antibiotics, then they went to his office.

When Daniel started to get sleepy, he cursed Janet silently, knowing that the woman had deliberately given him an antibiotic that would make him dopey.

"Remember what I said about Janet being bossy?" Daniel asked. Danny nodded. "Well, she can also be very sneaky. That medicine she gave me is making me sleepy. She must have figured out that I didn't sleep well last night and decided to do something about it. I should teach her a lesson and just get some coffee to keep me awake."

Danny shook his head.

"No? So, you think I should take a nap?"

The boy nodded.

"Well, okay, if you think so. But what about you? Want some books to read? Or perhaps a pencil and paper for drawing?"

Danny pondered on that, then nodded.

Daniel provided the boy with some books, as well as a large sketch pad and a couple of pencils, then he unfolded the cot he kept in his office and laid down on it. It wasn't long before he was fast asleep.

Looking at him, Danny got one of Daniel's spare jackets, which was lying over the back of a chair, and laid it over the sleeping archeologist. For a long time, he watched this man he did not really know, yet to whom he felt a strange connection. Then he returned to the table, picked up the pencil and began to draw, not wanting to think about the possibility that Daniel would go away someday, too. 


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

When Jack came strolling into Daniel's office, he saw Danny busy drawing something. Upon seeing the colonel, the boy pressed a finger to his lips, then pointed toward the back of the office, where a dead-to-the-world Daniel was lying on a cot.

Jack grinned. "She did it to him again, didn't she. This isn't the first time the doc's slipped him something to make him sleep." He came up to the boy, looking down at the drawing. "Hey, that's pretty good. But it needs color. You know, I bet, if I looked hard enough, I could find some colored pencils and markers around here. I'll be right back."

When Daniel awoke an hour later, it was to the sight of Danny and Jack hunched over the sketch pad, busily drawing away. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Hey there, Sleeping Beauty," Jack greeted. "Enjoy your nap?"

"Remind me to never again take pills given to me by Janet without first making her swear they won't put me to sleep."

"Ah, stop complaining. The nap didn't hurt you any. How's the arm?"

"Sore." Daniel got to his feet and came over. "What are you guys drawing?" He looked at the picture, trying to figure out what it was. Interestingly, the half of the page that Danny was drawing on was more recognizable than Jack's half.

"It's a hockey game," Jack replied.

Daniel stared at the picture harder. "A hockey game?" he repeated doubtfully.

"Sure. See? Those are the players and there's the audience."

"Jack, they all look like As . . . like aliens."

The colonel looked down at the people with unusually large heads and eyes. "Well, okay, so it's a hockey game on another planet."

Danny pulled out a drawing from the small pile on the table and handed it to Daniel. A well-drawn representation of the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx were in the background of the picture. In the foreground were four people. The smallest was clearly Danny. Holding the boy's left hand was a woman that Daniel guessed was Claire Jackson, Daniel's mother. Next to her and holding her hand was a dark-haired man who must be Daniel's father, Melburn. It was the fourth figure, however, that caught and held Daniel's attention. Holding Danny's right hand was a brown-haired man with glasses. Daniel realized that it was him. Above the four people, written in Arabic, were the words "My family."

Daniel swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat and looked down at Danny. "Thank you," he murmured. He got down on his knees and gave the boy a hug.

"Little Danny here's quite the artist," Jack said. "I don't recall seeing _you_ draw all that much, except for those rubbing things you do."

"I sometimes used to sketch the digs I was on," the archeologist responded, standing up. "I never got really good at it."

"Well, we're famished." Jack placed his hands on Danny's shoulders. "I wanted us to go on and get our lunch, but Danny insisted that we wait for you. So, get your butt in gear, and let's get some food."

"Am I allowed to use the bathroom first, Colonel, sir?" Daniel asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yeah, but make it snappy, Jackson."

While Daniel was down the hall, using the restroom, Jack called Sam and told her that they were going to be heading to the commissary for lunch and most likely dessert afterwards. It was, therefore, no surprise that, shortly after they sat down with their trays of food, the major was there with her own food tray. She was also carrying a small paper sack.

"What's in the bag, Sam?" Daniel asked. "More chocolate walnut cookies?"

"Nope. You'll see later."

After they were done with lunch, everybody went to get their desserts of choice, Danny getting chocolate ice cream, as expected.

He was about to dig his spoon into it when Sam said, "Wait. You can't eat just plain ice cream, Danny." She reached into the paper sack and pulled out a bag of brownie bites, which put a big smile on the little boy's face. Sam handed a small handful to him, which he placed all over the top of his ice cream. The major turned back to see Jack helping himself to some brownies. She lightly slapped his hand.

Jack gaped at her, then turned to Danny. "She slapped my hand." He pointed a finger at himself. "Me Colonel." He then pointed at Sam. "Her Major, and she slapped my hand. I think I should court-martial her for beating up a superior officer, toss her in the hoosgow, lock her up and throw away the key."

"_I_ think you should just try _asking_ if you can have a brownie instead of taking one without permission," Daniel remarked. He looked at Sam. "May I?"

The major smiled sweetly and handed him a couple of the little brownie squares. "Yes, you may."

"Thank you." Daniel popped one into his mouth, looking at Jack smugly.

"You two are so pushing it," Jack muttered. He heaved a big sigh. "Fine. May I have a brownie please?"

With another smile, Sam gave him two.

"Thanks." Jack looked down at Danny. "I guess that'll teach me, huh."

The boy nodded and resumed eating his ice cream and brownies.

Teal'c came in, just having finished the class he taught in Jaffa hand-to-hand combat techniques.

"Want a brownie, T?" Jack asked. "Just be sure you ask for one instead of just taking it. Carter'll beat you up, if you don't."

One of the Jaffa's eyebrows rose. "I would not take something that did not belong to me without first receiving permission, O'Neill."

"Of course you wouldn't. What was I thinking?"

Sam gave Teal'c a couple of brownies, and he sat down.

"Are you feeling well, Daniel Jackson?"

Both the adult and child versions of Daniel looked up.

"I'm fine, Teal'c," the grownup version said, knowing that he was the one the Jaffa had addressed.

"You and Major Harper were really lucky, Daniel," Sam said. "It could have been a lot worse."

The comment made Danny stop eating, a look of worry and fear on his face. Realizing she shouldn't have said what she did, she mouthed, "Sorry," at Daniel.

"Yeah, it could have been worse," Jack stated, deciding that he needed to perk Danny up, "but this is Daniel we're talking about here, Mister Timex himself, takes a lickin' again, and again, and again . . . and again, and keeps on tickin'." He leaned down toward Danny. "There's talk around here that he's actually immortal, because, no matter how many time it seems for sure that his goose is cooked, he somehow manages to make it out alive in the end. It's downright creepy sometimes."

Danny looked at Daniel a little uncertainly.

"No, I'm not immortal," the archeologist told his clone, "but I do admit that I have a pretty good track record for making it out of bad situations alive . . . though not always all in one piece."

Apparently, Daniel's words succeeded in easing Danny's concern, for he returned to his ice cream, which was mostly melted now.

After their desserts were finished, everyone went to Daniel's office to chat. It wasn't long before Danny began getting sleepy, the stress of the day catching up to him. Daniel had him lie down on the cot, and he was soon asleep.

"How has he been doing today?" Jack asked, completely serious now.

"Actually, pretty good," Daniel replied, "although he had a panic attack when he saw that I was hurt."

"Yes, I heard about that. I wish Teal'c and I hadn't left to go talk to Hammond about what we were going to do about M1J-990 and the fact that they deliberately tried to kill some of us after pretending to be so friendly."

"I handled it." Daniel looked at the sleeping child. "He's afraid that he's going to lose me."

"You can't blame him," Sam remarked. "He just lost his parents. . . . I mean . . . well, sort of." Sam grimaced a little. "In his mind, he's just lost them. Now, you've taken their place in his life. It would stand to reason that he'd be terrified of losing you, too."

Daniel nodded. "Since no one really took Mom and Dad's place after they died, there was nobody that I attached to like that. Danny's afraid to have me out of his sight. He's terrified that I'll disappear and never come back."

"He'll get past this, Daniel," Jack assured him. "He just needs time."

"I know. I've been thinking a lot about all of this, and I realized that I need to find a bigger place."

"Yes, and one with a bigger yard. Kids need lots of room to play."

"He'll have to be enrolled in school. At his age, the majority of my schooling had been done by Mom and Dad since we were out on digs so often. The few months now and then that we actually spent at home, they had me in a small, private school, which was easier than putting me in a public one, then pulling me right back out the next time we headed off to a dig. My first experience with public school wasn't until after they died."

"Maybe you should consider putting Danny in a private school, too," Sam said, "especially when he's probably going to be several grades ahead of what other kids his age are."

"Yeah, maybe." Daniel looked at his clone. "But it's going to be a while before he's ready for that. They threw me into school barely a week after it happened, and it was too soon. I ended up completely withdrawing from the other kids and wouldn't interact with the teachers. I didn't talk for three months. And the schoolwork they gave me was three grades below what I'd already learned, so I was bored, too. Danny isn't going to school until I know that he's ready. Until then, I'll teach him. I taught a class at the university for a while, so I should be able to handle teaching an eight-year-old."

Jack jerked his thumb at Sam. "You can get Carter here to teach him physics and all that other oh so fun science stuff. That way, not only will he be a whiz at archeology and languages, he'll also actually be able to understand the technobabble. Then, when he's all grown up, he can join the program and do both yours _and_ Carter's jobs."

"Will you be taking an extended leave of absence, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.

"I'm thinking of at least a month. I guess we'll have to see what happens."

Sam studied his face. "And afterwards?"

Daniel paused. "I don't know. I have to consider Danny's welfare. There's no denying that being on SG-1 is dangerous. You may tease about it, but the fact remains that I've died or nearly died more times than I care to count. Danny's already lost one set of parents. I don't want him to lose another."

"Your presence on SG-1 would be greatly missed," Teal'c stated, "as it was when you were ascended."

"It wouldn't be the same without you," Sam agreed, knowing that she would miss him, even if he was still working at the SGC.

"Yeah, and if we bump heads with any other Unas, we'd be screwed," Jack added.

Daniel smiled slightly, feeling good that his teammates didn't want him to leave the team. The smile faded. "I'm not going to be making any decisions yet. Right now, I'm just playing it by ear. That's really all I can do."

* * *

That night, Daniel and Danny moved into Daniel's quarters. It would be their home until the day Daniel believed that his clone was recovered enough to find out the truth about himself. The archeologist suspected that, before that day came, Danny would know what the purpose of the base was. The first time an unscheduled off-world activation was announced, the boy would have questions that Daniel couldn't answer with anything but the truth. There was also the danger that he'd overhear a conversation about a mission or planet. Everyone on base had been given an order not to speak about anything like that in Danny's presence, but it was only a matter of time before the boy heard something that he wasn't supposed to hear.

The next day, after sharing breakfast with the rest of SG-1, Daniel and Danny spent the morning in their quarters. Though he was officially on leave now, the archeologist figured that he might as well catch up on his backlog of work and had the desk piled high with file folders, plus boxes of artifacts on the floor. Danny was on the bed, his attention focused fully on the task Daniel had assigned to him. Figuring that he might as well go ahead and get a start on the boy's schooling, Daniel had asked him to write down, in the correct order, all the Egyptian kings of the First Dynasty, in both English and hieroglyphics. Daniel had the advantage of knowing that his mom had made a game out of teaching him the names of the kings by putting them into silly songs. Daniel had learned the First Dynasty kings by heart by the time he was five years old. The challenge for Danny would be figuring out how the names were spelled in English and recalling what the hieroglyph for each one looked like.

Daniel was in the midst of typing up his report on one of the artifacts when Danny came over with the finished list.

"Okay, let's see how you did. Narmer. You got that one right. Did you know, though, that many text nowadays have Narmer as the last king of Predynastic Egypt instead of the first king of the First Dynasty?"

Danny shook his head, clearly interested.

"Do you know what the last period of Predynastic Egypt is called?"

Danny shook his head again.

"It's often called the Naqada III period, but it also has another name. What comes before the number one?"

Danny made an 'O' with his fingers.

Daniel nodded. "Uh huh. It's also called Dynasty 0." He looked back down at the paper. "The next one is right, too. Great job. There is a debate that Aha was also called Menes because the King-list at Abydos in the temple of Seti the First includes that name. Others believe that Menes might have been Narmer rather than Aha." The archeologist smiled down at Danny. "Too bad we can't go back in time and find out for ourselves, huh." The boy smiled back at him, nodding.

Daniel returned his gaze to the paper. "Okay, onto the next one. Dger. You got the hieroglyph perfect, Danny, but take a close look at how you spelled it in English."

Frowning, Danny stared at the name, then looked at Daniel.

"What other letter can sound like a G in some words?" the archeologist prompted.

Danny thought about that for a moment, then his eyes lit up with comprehension, and he changed the G to a J so that the name was now correctly spelled Djer. Looking at the remaining names, he replaced the G's in two of them as well. He looked at Daniel for confirmation and was rewarded with a smile.

"Good job," Daniel praised. "Okay, you've corrected the next one, Djet, so that's now spelled right, but what's that on the snake in the hieroglyph?"

Danny stared at the snake beneath the falcon, frowning deeply. He looked up at Daniel in confusion and puzzlement.

"What's wrong?"

Danny shook his head and took the paper and pencil. He redrew the hieroglyph in the correct way, pointing at it emphatically, then crossing out the incorrect one.

"I don't understand what you're saying, Danny. Yes, that second one's right. Why did you draw it the other way before?"

The boy shook his head and shrugged.

"You don't know?"

Danny now nodded.

Daniel looked at the original hieroglyph Danny had drawn for Djet. It was fine except for the snake, which had a triangular shape on its back.

All at once, Daniel's breath froze in his lungs. _'That's not possible,'_ his mind told him. _'He couldn't possibly know that.'_

Trying to keep his voice calm and steady, he looked at the boy. "Danny, is . . . that supposed to be wings?"

Danny looked back at the incorrect hieroglyph and shrugged, nodding slightly.

"You don't know for sure, but you think maybe it is?"

The child gave another nod.

Daniel stared at the drawing. How could this be possible? As a child, Daniel had no knowledge of the Goa'uld, and Danny was him, with his memories and knowledge at that age. The only way it differed is in what had taken place over the last two days. Could Danny have seen a picture of a Goa'uld symbiote somewhere? There weren't any on the artifacts in Daniel's office, and they hadn't visited the cataloging and storage room yet.

Daniel grabbed a pencil and drew a symbiote on a piece of paper, wings, crested head and all. He showed it to the boy.

"Danny, does this look familiar to you?"

The boy stared at the drawing for several seconds before nodding.

"Do you remember where you saw it?"

Danny shook his head. He looked at Daniel questioningly.

"It's, um . . . an Egyptian god, one that wasn't discovered until recently. Most archeologists don't know about it, which is why I'm surprised that you do. Let's . . . let's continue."

With a great deal of effort, Daniel returned his attention to Danny's lesson and the remaining four names. The boy got most of the rest of the hieroglyphs right, but there were some more spelling errors, which was understandable since the last three names – Anendjib, Semerkhet and Qa'a – were tricky ones.

Danny spent the rest of the day reading, drawing and playing games on a laptop computer that Sam gave him. That night, after the boy was asleep, Daniel called Sam, Jack and Teal'c, and the four of them gathered outside his quarters.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked. "You look worried."

"Both worried and baffled. I decided to give Danny some schoolwork this morning. He was supposed to write the names of the kings of the First Egyptian Dynasty, both in English and hieroglyphs."

"Didn't do so well?" Jack asked, wondering how an eight-year-old could know something like that.

"No, he did fine. Spelled some of the names wrong, but I expected that. That isn't the problem." Daniel showed them the incorrect hieroglyph for Djet. "What does that look like to you?"

The three members of Daniel's team stared at the drawing.

"It appears to be a crude representation of a Goa'uld symbiote," Teal'c replied. "If that is the symbol for Djet, it is incorrect. There are no hieroglyphs for the Egyptian gods that have a Goa'uld within them."

"I know."

"Daniel, are you saying that Danny drew that?" Sam asked.

"Yes. When I asked him why he drew the snake like that, he couldn't tell me. He didn't know. He redrew it correctly." Daniel indicated the correct hieroglyph.

"Okay, so he made a mistake, then got confused," Jack said. "That's probably not supposed to be wings."

"I drew a picture of a symbiote, Jack, and he told me that he recognized it."

"How is that possible?" Sam questioned.

"I have no idea. It shouldn't be. I had no memory of a winged, crested snake as a child, so Danny shouldn't either."

"Maybe he saw a picture here somewhere," Jack suggested.

"Where? There aren't any in my office, and none of the stuff I worked on today has an image of a Goa'uld."

"On Cedarna?" Sam offered.

"The Cedarnans have no images of the Goa'uld or Jaffa anywhere. From what I know, their ancestors' enslavement to the Goa'uld was completely erased from their history, most likely when they left the planet the Goa'uld took them to and went to Cedarna."

"Then how?" Jack asked.

"I really wish I knew, Jack."

"Well, he had to have seen one someplace, probably here."

"What did you tell him the Goa'uld was when you drew the picture of one?" Sam queried.

"I didn't use the word Goa'uld, of course. I told him that it was an Egyptian god that we only discovered recently, which is only a partial lie."

"Okay, I say that we forget about this and don't mention it to him again," Jack stated. "That little kid doesn't need to know that there's a race of evil aliens out there bent on destroying us."

Everyone agreed, though Daniel's mind was still full of questions about where Danny had seen an image of a Goa'uld.

Daniel devoted most of the next day to Danny, both in teaching and playing. The boy enjoyed the lessons as much as he did the play time, which was no surprise to the archeologist.

Sam came by that afternoon with a chemistry set, and she and Danny had lots of fun with it. Daniel took the opportunity to take a break. The boy was only a little worried about him leaving this time, Sam's presence being enough to assure him that everything would be fine.

Deciding to get some fresh air, Daniel went to the mountaintop. He gazed at the view spread out below as he thought about his clone. At the rate that Danny was improving, it could be that he'd be well enough to know the truth in a couple of weeks.

Daniel thought about that moment, about how he was going to break the news. He really didn't want to do it. He wished that there was a way that Danny could stay blissfully ignorant of his identity for the rest of his life. But that would be impossible. Even if some crazy story could be fabricated about the difference in the year, eventually, Danny would begin to notice the striking resemblance between him and Daniel. No, he had to be told, and it would be better to do so as soon as he was strong enough to know the truth than to wait several years, lying to him that whole time.

Daniel thought about how _he_ would have reacted at that age if somebody told him he was a clone. How would he react now? The robot version of himself had no trouble accepting that he wasn't the original, thinking that it was fascinating, so Daniel hoped that he would react with similar calm and acceptance to being told that he was a clone. But that was him as an adult, not a little child. In these years that had passed since the day he found out about the Stargate, he had been exposed to all kinds of strange and alien things, experiences that had expanded his mind and world view. He could now accept the wackiest, most unbelievable things without batting an eye.

Danny was an innocent child whose life experiences were mostly the memories of digs he never actually went on, foreign countries that he'd never really visited. Yes, Daniel at that age had watched some TV, but not even a fraction of what the average American eight-year-old of 1973 had. He'd seen a handful of episodes of the original Star Trek series in syndication, so he had some knowledge of science fiction, but he never ran around with a toy ray gun, shooting aliens. His life had revolved around his parents and their work. No matter how he looked at it, Daniel knew that telling Danny what he was would not be easy.

Daniel glanced at his watch, seeing that he should go back in. He was on his way back when he suddenly started violently, his heart racing. He stood still, wondering what had startled him. He hadn't heard or seen a thing. Puzzled, Daniel resumed walking.

When he got back down to the SGC, the archeologist heard the klaxon blaring. It shut off a moment later.

"What happened?" he asked the men stationed at the security desk.

"Unscheduled off-world activation, sir," one of them replied.

"Crap."

Daniel hurried down to Level 25 and straight to his and Danny's room. When he opened the door, he found Sam on the bed, holding the little boy, who looked terrified.

The second Danny saw him, he launched himself across the room and into Daniel's arms. He was shaking, his respiration coming in gulping breaths. Daniel lifted him up.

"Hey. It's okay," Daniel told him soothingly. "It's just a warning that goes off every now and then."

"It really scared him," Sam said. "The noise was bad enough, but then he started to panic. I think that, because the last time the klaxon sounded, you got hurt, he was afraid that something happened to you again."

Daniel looked down at Danny. "Is that what you were afraid of?"

The little head bobbed up and down against his chest.

"Well, don't worry about that. Most of the times you hear that sound, it has nothing to do with me. I was outside, getting some fresh air. I didn't even hear it until I came back in."

Daniel sat on the bed with Danny, who released his grip, sitting quietly on the archeologist's lap.

"So, did you enjoy playing with the chemistry set?"

Danny nodded, a little subdued.

"The sets aren't as good as they used to be back when I was a kid," Sam declared. "They've made them safer, which equals less fun. All the good chemicals aren't in them anymore." She got to her feet. "I guess I should see what the alarm was about." She looked at her watch. "If it's SG-2, they're two hours early."

Daniel also looked at his watch, frowning. "Sam? What time did the klaxon go off?"

"Um, I'm not exactly sure, around 3:15, I'd say." She saw the look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. We can talk about it later." Daniel glanced at Danny, then gave the major a look.

Getting the message, she nodded. "Okay. I'll see you guys later, then."

Deciding that Danny needed something to take his mind off his fright, Daniel turned on the TV and tuned it to a cartoon channel, figuring that would be safe.

As the boy watched cartoons, Daniel attempted to get more work done, but his mind was too focused on the discovery he believed he had just made. If he was right, they had a whole new problem to deal with, one that none of them could have possibly foreseen.

* * *

Like the previous night, SG-1 met outside Daniel's quarters after Danny went to sleep.

"Carter said there's a problem." Jack said.

"I think Danny and I are telepathically communicating with each other," Daniel announced.

"What?" Sam said, surprised.

"What?" Jack parroted.

"Sam said that the klaxon this afternoon badly startled Danny and that it went off at around 3:15. When I was outside, something startled me, but I had no idea what. I hadn't seen or heard a thing. I'd looked at my watch a few minutes beforehand, and it was ten after three. I think that, maybe, I somehow sensed Danny being startled."

"It could just be a coincidence," Sam told him.

"What about the symbiote? I still don't understand how Danny could recognize one. What if he somehow got it from my mind? I was working on translations while Danny was doing his schoolwork, and some of them were connected to the Goa'uld."

"You mean you guys are reading each other's minds?" Jack asked, skeptical.

"It's not that advanced, Jack, at least not yet. Okay, look. Danny is my clone. He's me, a perfect physical duplicate of me at that age. That would include his brain. Now, it has been proven that some identical twins have a psychic connection, able to receive mental images from each other. If that's possible between twins, it should be even more possible between clones."

"Then how come I'm not getting mental images of high school babes from my clone?"

"Maybe it has to do with the genetic marker. There was a slight variance between your DNA and his. Or maybe it's because you have no contact with him. I don't know. All I know is what the evidence is telling me."

"I'm not saying that you're wrong, Daniel, but I think we need more to go on," Sam told him.

"Well, short of running tests, I don't know how we're going to do that, and tests are out of the question, at least not until Danny knows the truth and has completely accepted it. We're just going to have to see what happens. If this is true, sooner or later, something else is going to happen. The problem is that, if Danny is randomly picking stuff up from my thoughts. . . ."

"There's no telling what he could pick up next," Sam concluded.

"Yeah. I'm afraid he's going to see something that will reveal what he is."

"Okay, I'm not saying that I believe all this," Jack said, "but _if_ you're right, and _if_ he happens to pick the word clone out of your head, what are the chances that he's going to know what it means? Every kid in America nowadays may know what a clone is, but how many eight-year-olds back in 1973 did, especially ones who spent most of their life digging up stuff in Egypt?"

"I agree, and, if that's all he picks up from my mind, there may not be a problem, but we have no idea how much information can pass between us."

"Well, unless you can figure out a way of not thinking, which really _is_ impossible for you, I'd say that you're just going to have to hope that doesn't happen . . . and deal with it if it does." 


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

Danny had another nightmare that night, but Daniel was able to calm him far more quickly, and he didn't cling to the archeologist after it was over, though Daniel could tell that the boy wanted him close. He sat on the bed until Danny had gone back to sleep.

As with the previous morning, SG-1 and Danny had breakfast together. Afterwards, Sam and Teal'c went off to work. Jack claimed that he didn't have any work that needed doing right now and asked Danny if he'd like to play some games. The boy agreed, so they stopped by Jack's office, where he picked up a bag he'd brought to work. In Daniel and Danny's quarters, he dumped the bag out on the bed to reveal a variety of card games and other toys.

Throughout the rest of the morning, Jack and Danny played while Daniel divided his attention between them and his work. Watching the two of them play Go Fish was especially amusing. Since Danny didn't talk and, therefore, couldn't say, "Go fish," every time he didn't have a card Jack asked for, the colonel decided that they should both use hand signals instead. The signal chosen was to wiggle a hand back and forth, simulating a swimming fish. This hand signal gradually became progressively more elaborate until, at last, with every "Go fish," the two of them were executing a complex – and totally ridiculous – series of hand and body movements that had Danny giggling repeatedly.

Watching the two of them together, Daniel could clearly see how good a father Jack must have been with Charlie. That made him think about the way he'd reacted when Jack offered to be Danny's guardian. He owed the man an apology.

A while after Jack left to go take care of some work that couldn't wait any longer, Daniel noticed a change in Danny's mood. The boy looked upset about something.

"What's wrong, Danny?" When the boy didn't give a response, Daniel sat beside him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Can't you tell me?"

Danny got up and walked over to where the sketch pad was. He first drew a picture of himself with a smile on his face. Then he crossed it out and drew himself crying.

Daniel frowned at the pictures. "I don't understand. What are you saying?"

Danny crossed out the smiling image again, more forcefully. Then he wrote, "Shouldn't laugh."

Realizing what Danny was saying, Daniel led him back to the bed and sat down with him.

"There is nothing wrong with you laughing or being happy sometimes, Danny. When people lose somebody they love, they can still find things to be happy about and that will make them laugh. Do you think that, because you were laughing, your parents would think that you didn't love them?"

His head bowed, the boy nodded.

"Well, that is so not true. If they were watching us, they would be so happy to see you laughing. They would want you to be as happy as you could possibly be, not be sad all the time. They'd want you to laugh and play. Remember that, Danny. Every time you laugh and play, it would make them very happy."

* * *

Danny and all of SG-1 were having lunch together when the team was requested to attend a one o'clock briefing about the issue on Cedarna.

Back in their quarters a while later, Daniel asked the boy if he would be okay staying there by himself. Though he tried to hide it, the archeologist and his teammates could see that the little boy was afraid about being alone.

"I do not believe that it is necessary for me to be at the briefing," Teal'c stated. "If he wishes, young Daniel Jackson may stay with me in my quarters."

Daniel gave the Jaffa a nod of gratitude, then looked down at Danny. "Would that be all right with you?"

Danny appeared to think about it for a little while, then he nodded.

When the three human members of SG-1 got to the briefing, they explained to Hammond about Teal'c watching over Danny.

"That'll be fine," the general responded. "Doctor Fraiser, tell us what information you have."

"Well, we've been working on a neutralizer for the spermicide, but we've had only minimal success so far," Janet informed them. "We have determined one thing. This chemical is a naturally occurring one and has most likely been in the water for thousands of years, if not from the beginning."

"That makes no sense," Daniel said. "There must have been a time when the Cedarnans had no trouble reproducing. From what I learned, they've been on that planet for somewhere around eight hundred years. The group that came there was small, just a few hundred, but their population grew rapidly. If the chemical had been in the water all that time, their population would not have grown like that. In fact, they'd have died out centuries ago."

"Maybe the amount of the chemical dramatically increased for some reason," Sam suggested.

"That's possible," Janet agreed.

"Or something else changed," Daniel murmured. "I'm just remembering something from their history. The Cedarnans are vegetarians and grow most of their own food. The only meat they eat is fish. But it wasn't always that way. At one time, they also hunted, raised animals for meat, and gathered wild grains, fruits and other edible planets. As time passed, they relied less on the wild grown food and more on their crops. And then, a few hundred years ago, there was a change in their entire culture. They chose to stop eating all forms of meat, except fish."

"What would that have to do with the chemical?" Sam asked.

"We know that the wild animals on the planet have a healthy population and that the Cedarnans' livestock are also able to breed without trouble. Their livestock's primary source of food is the wild grasses and plants. The wild herbivores would also eat the wild plants, and the carnivores would eat the herbivores."

Realization dawned on Janet's face. "I think I know what you're saying. If there was something in the wild plants that neutralizes the spermicide, any animal that ate them would become immune to the effects. That neutralizer would most likely show up in the animal's blood and tissue. . . ."

"Which would be eaten by the carnivores and get into their system," Sam finished.

"So, you're saying that becoming vegetarians was a bad choice for their health?" Jack asked. "I find that kind of ironic."

"If they also hadn't greatly reduced the amount of wild grown food that they ate, they might have been okay," Daniel said. "At the very least, the drop in the birthrate wouldn't have been nearly as bad."

"I'd say that the neutralizer is in the soil," Janet determined. "We'd probably also find some of it in the crops they grow."

"But, because they irrigate with water from the river, whatever neutralizer they got by eating the crops was only partially effective since the crops also have the spermicide in them."

"And the fish are probably chock full of the stuff," Jack said. "Hey, wouldn't that mean that there wouldn't be any baby fish?"

"The spermicide may have no effect on the fish," Sam replied. "If this is a naturally occurring situation for this planet, the fish would have needed to develop a resistance to it."

"We'll have to do some more tests on that soil sample you brought back," Janet said. "I hope you're right about this, Daniel."

After the briefing ended, Daniel, Sam and Jack went to Teal'c's quarters. When they got there, they were surprised to see the Jaffa and Danny sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by candles, apparently performing Kel'no'reem. The man and boy opened their eyes and looked up at them as they came in the room.

"Uh . . . isn't Danny a little young for that?" Jack asked. "Not to mention that he doesn't have a . . . you know."

"In order to prepare them, the children of my people are taught how to reach a meditative state well before the Prim'ta is performed, O'Neill."

Danny looked at the Jaffa curiously.

"I think he wants to know what a Prim'ta is, Teal'c," Daniel guessed, wondering how the Jaffa was going to answer.

"The Primta is a special ceremony performed by the priests of my people. Every child goes through it at a certain time in their lives."

The explanation satisfied Danny, who looked back up at the others.

"So, how did you do?" Jack asked the boy. "I tried it once." He made a face. "Didn't much care for it." Of course, part of the reason for that was that he was in Teal'c's body at the time and had to "commune" with "Junior" out of necessity.

"Young Daniel Jackson did quite well for his first time," Teal'c replied, "equally as well as many of the children of my people." He looked directly at Daniel. "The fact that he does not speak was a great advantage."

Smiling slightly, Daniel dipped his head, gaze momentarily falling to the carpet. The first time that he tried to meditate, Teal'c had to politely tell him to shut up.

"Well, if you two are done meditating, I'd say it's dessert time," Jack stated.

Danny liked that idea and quickly got up off the floor. He took hold of Daniel's hand and then Sam's, and they all went to the commissary. This time, they all had chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream on the side.

"If I keep eating dessert like this every day, I'm going to get fat," Sam complained as she took another bite.

"Hey, you can always just say no, Carter," Jack responded.

"And let you guys eat all the yummy stuff? Not a chance."

After dessert, they all went back to Daniel and Danny's quarters, where Sam taught the boy how to play the alien space wars game on the laptop.

As the child played, the adults talked.

"If we can help the Cedarnans, who's going to go back there?" Sam asked, figuring it was safe to talk about this as long as they were careful about what they said.

"I'm tempted to let another team handle it," Jack replied.

"I want to go," Daniel announced, surprising the others.

"Are you sure, Daniel?" Sam asked. "Considering what they did, I'd think that you wouldn't want to go back there."

"Like I said before, Sam, I understand why they did it." Daniel looked at his clone. "I'm willing to put it aside. Even if Janet does come up with something to neutralize the chemical, it'll take a while for the damage to be undone. We need to do something else in the meantime to keep their numbers from dropping further. I have an idea, but, for it to work, the Cedarnans will need to change their viewpoint about some things. I want to be the one to talk to them about it."

"What's your idea?" Jack asked.

"Um . . ." Daniel glanced at Danny, "we'll talk about it later."

"Ah. Right."

That night, after Danny had gone to sleep, the teammates talked about Daniel's idea. They agreed that it might work if they could get permission and if the Cedarnans would be willing to do it.

As his teammates were leaving, Daniel asked Jack to stay for a while.

"I wanted to apologize about what I said that first day, when you offered to take Danny," he said after the others were gone.

"There's no need for that, Daniel. I understood. And you were right. Danny's better off with you than he could be with anyone else. You can get inside his head way better than any of us can, not to mention the fact that you know exactly what that little brain of his is capable of doing and learning."

"That may be, but I keep having to remind myself that he really isn't exactly like me, not anymore. From the moment he woke up in the infirmary, his life has been different from what mine was after Mom and Dad died. His behavior is different. He's letting himself trust and be comfortable with people he doesn't know well. He's learning to . . . to let himself love, though I know that he's still a little afraid to. The more time that passes, the bigger the differences between us will be."

"How did you learn how to trust again?" Jack asked after a quiet moment.

"I was always willing to trust people for who they were. What I wasn't willing to trust is that they'd stay in my life. I always assumed that, sooner or later, either they'd leave or I would have to, like it was with everyone else."

"And now?"

Daniel didn't reply. He couldn't tell Jack that, deep down inside, he still had the fear that, eventually, the people he cared about would all go away. He had lost Sha're. He'd lost Skaara, and Kasuf, and everyone else on Abydos. He had very likely lost Nick, though he never really had his grandfather in the first place. Robert was gone, Doctor Jordan, too, and Sarah was now a Goa'uld, and they'd probably never get her back. He had lost friends that he made here at the SGC.

Daniel's silence told Jack the answer to his question. He laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Hey. Not everyone you care about is going to leave you, Daniel." He nodded his head at Danny. "And, now, you've got someone new in your life, somebody who's going to be around for a very long time to come." He smiled slightly. "I can't wait to see what it'll be like when he's all grown up, and we've got two adult Daniel Jacksons running around here, speaking a million languages, giving us all headaches by spouting off textbooks full of information on every known civilization in the galaxy, and being a general pain in the ass to their commanding officers."

Daniel smiled very slightly at the comment. "Even if I'm still here by then, there's no guarantee that Danny will join the program . . . that is if there's even still a program to join."

"Are you kidding? If this place is still here, there's no way that Danny wouldn't want to be a part of it and go exploring the galaxy for new civilizations and exciting, dusty old ruins."

"You're probably right about that," the archeologist admitted.

"Of course I'm right." He gave Daniel's shoulder a pat. "So, no more of this talk about losing people. Got it?"

Daniel gave him a smile. "Got it."

"Good. By the way, has there been any more telepathy stuff going on?"

The archeologist studied him. "I thought you didn't believe me about that."

"I didn't say that I didn't believe you. I'm just . . . reserving my right to be skeptical until there's more proof."

"Ah. Well, the answer is no, not that I know of. I know that I haven't sensed anything from Danny, and he hasn't given any indication of having picked something up from me. But I can't really be sure that there hasn't been anything."

"Then let's just keep hoping that it was a fluke or a coincidence or something."

"Yeah."

* * *

Danny ended up spending the next morning with Sam. As Daniel had predicted, though he was on leave, his presence on base was an open invitation for people to ask for his help. Some artifacts had been brought in yesterday that the linguistics staff was having trouble translating, and they were hoping that Daniel could help. Sam didn't have any projects that needed doing at the moment, so she offered to babysit. She and the boy spent part of the morning on some math and geometry lessons. The major found that Danny was quick to learn and did have an interest in the two subjects, which made her wonder what Daniel's viewpoint had been about them at that age. He had once said that math never captured his attention in school.

After the lesson, Sam played some games with Danny on the computer, managing to get him to laugh a couple of times.

Daniel came back to the room a little after one.

"How are you guys doing?" he asked.

"Good." Sam grinned. "We worked on some fun math and geometry."

"Ooh, goodie," Daniel responded.

"How are things going on the translation?"

The linguist sighed. "Slowly. I'm afraid that we're going to be at it for another few hours. Are you going to be able to stay with Danny?"

"I don't know if I can stay that long. I was actually supposed to help on a project later this afternoon. I guess I can call them and say I can't come."

"I'll call Jack. Maybe he can take over."

Jack jumped at the chance to watch Danny, so quickly, in fact, that Daniel suspected he'd just given the colonel a reprieve from having to do some of the paperwork the man so detested.

Jack showed up a short while later with a chess set. Daniel looked at it with raised eyebrows.

"Hey, I figured this might be an opportunity for me to actually beat somebody whose name is Daniel Jackson. Of course, I'll have to teach him how to play before I can beat him."

"Actually, he already knows how to play. Da. . . . Melburn taught him."

"That's good. Then we can start playing a real game right away."

Smiling slightly, Daniel left to go back to work, Sam leaving as well.

When the archeologist returned a few hours later, he found Jack frowning over the chessboard, Danny watching him.

The colonel looked up at Daniel. "You knew, didn't you."

"Knew what, Jack?" Daniel asked innocently.

"That he's actually Bobby Fischer in disguise."

Daniel smiled at the reference, knowing that Jack was referring to the former world chess champion who earned the title of International Grandmaster at the age of fourteen.

"I think you're exaggerating a bit, Jack. Danny didn't start beating his dad until he was seven, and, even then, it was only some of the time."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "Exactly how old was he when he started learning?"

"Five."

"Five? Why didn't you tell me?"

"And spoil your dreams of an easy victory?" Daniel walked over to the board. "So, what have we got here?"

"Hey! Don't you help him!" Jack commanded. "I'm having a hard enough time beating him."

Daniel's eyes scanned the board. "He seems to be doing just fine on his own, Jack."

The colonel's gaze immediately dropped back to the board. He grumbled for a few seconds, then tipped his king over.

"I give up. I guess I'm destined never to win against a Jackson."

Danny was staring at the colonel in surprise, then he looked up at Daniel, who was smiling down at him smugly. Jack noticed the smile.

"What? What aren't you telling me?"

"Oh, nothing, Jack, except that I only said Danny was doing fine on his own, not that he was going to win."

Jack stared back down at the board. "Are you saying I'd have won if I kept playing?"

"That all depends on whether or not you'd seen what I see. I think Danny sees it." He looked at the boy. "Right?"

Danny nodded.

Jack growled. "And are you going to share it with me?"

"Shall we?" Daniel asked Danny, who nodded again. "Move over," the archeologist told Jack. He took the man's place on the bed and set the king upright. "My move, right?"

Jack watched as the two Daniel Jacksons played against each other. Five moves later, Daniel checkmated Danny.

"I could have beaten him," Jack muttered. "I want a rematch!"

"I'm sure you'll get your chance, Jack."

* * *

The next morning, Jack decided that it was a perfect day for a picnic, so, for lunch, everyone went to the mountaintop. Danny liked being out in the sunshine and apparently thought it was cool to be so high up.

"Well, I guess you're not like Daniel in that way," Jack remarked, sipping his soda. "He's got a problem with heights."

"Not anymore, Jack," Daniel corrected. "I pretty much got over that quite a while back, had to in our line of work. I'd never have been able to jump out of that plane over Russia that easily if I hadn't. Just the thought of parachuting out of a plane when I'd never done it before was bad enough. And my problem with heights didn't start until I was twelve years old and got stuck on the side of a cliff."

"The side of a cliff?" Sam inquired. "How did that happen?"

"My foster father at the time decided to take me hiking up in the mountains. I wasn't crazy about the idea, but he insisted. Well, it had rained a couple of days earlier, and the ground was soft. We were going up a steep part when the ground slipped beneath my feet, and I fell. I rolled about twenty feet and fell off the edge. It wasn't a long drop, around a dozen feet or so, and some bushes broke my fall. I'd landed on a ledge that was six or seven feet wide and a few yards long. There was about a two-hundred-foot drop beyond. If I'd fallen after we'd gotten several yards further up the trail, I'd probably have been killed since there wouldn't have been a ledge to catch me."

"And here I thought that your brushes with death didn't start until after you began working for us," Jack remarked, shaking his head.

Daniel looked at Danny, who was staring at him, wide-eyed. He smiled at the boy and continued. "The side of the cliff was too steep and unstable to climb, so I couldn't get up, and Frank, my foster dad, discovered that he forgot to pack some rope."

"Oh no," Sam said.

"Idiot," Jack muttered.

"How were you rescued from the cliff, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.

"Frank had to leave me and go back down the mountain to get help. I was left alone on that cliff for over five hours. I kept imagining that the ground was going to crumble beneath me, and I'd fall. By the time I was rescued, I didn't want anything more to do with mountain climbing. But I had to climb a few anyway on some of the digs I went on."

"Well, I can definitely understand the thing about heights now," Jack said. "That would scare just about any kid."

Danny nodded his head emphatically, clearly agreeing with the statement.

After finishing their lunch, Jack got the duffle bag that he'd brought along and, to everyone's surprise, pulled out five Super Soaker water guns.

"Ever have a water gun fight, Danny?" Jack asked. The boy shook his head, staring at the guns with big eyes. Jack began priming the gun he held. "Then let me give you some pointers. A well thought out strategy is definitely important. You must be fearless, be willing to risk everything to defeat the enemy. But, above everything else, the most important thing of all . . ." Jack spun around and blasted Daniel full in the chest, saturating his shirt, "is to get the enemy as wet as you possibly can."

Daniel looked down at himself, then lifted his gaze to stare at the colonel cooly. "Good advice, Jack." He whipped up his own weapon and hit the older man with a blast of water.

"Take no prisoners!" Jack cried, and the fight was on. At first, Danny stayed with Daniel as the two of them dodged in and out of trees and bushes, shooting anyone they saw. But then, at one point, with a big laugh, the little boy shot Daniel in the back. The archeologist spun around.

"Traitor!" he cried with a grin and sprayed Danny.

After that, it was everyone for themselves. The woods were filled with the sound of laughter and squeals of surprise when someone unexpectedly got hit with a blast. There were even a few deep Jaffa laughs now and then. The sweetest laughter of all, however, were the childish ones of delight from Danny. The others didn't take it easy on him, shooting him with the same zeal as they did their teammates.

The water fight didn't end until everyone's weapons were empty . . . and everybody was dripping wet.

Daniel wiped water drops off his glasses with a tiny part of his BDU shirt that wasn't soaked. He looked down at his drenched clothes. "Judging by the massive wounds, I think I'm dead again," he observed.

The other adults all looked at each other.

"Actually, I think we all are," Sam remarked, ringing some water out of her T-shirt.

"These wounds would assuredly be fatal if it had been live ammunition," Teal'c agreed, seemingly not the least bit bothered by the water that was dripping off his shirt to plop on the ground.

Jack ran a hand through his wet hair. "And you know what's sad? Here we are, highly trained warriors, and guess who's the least wet?"

The four adults turned as one to Danny, who grinned back at them.

"Well, he's smaller," Sam said, pouting a little, "harder to hit."

"And the little devil's quick on his feet, too," Jack added.

"Young Daniel Jackson was, indeed, quite difficult to shoot," Teal'c agreed.

"I want him on my team next time."

"Well, he was on my team, but he betrayed me and shot me in the back," Daniel told Jack, smiling at Danny.

"Ah. Sneaky, too, huh."

A few minutes later, as they got off the elevator, trailing water behind them, they ran into General Hammond.

"Oops," Jack murmured. Then he put on a smile. "Afternoon, General."

Hammond looked at each of them one by one, eyebrows lifted slightly. "Today's forecast didn't call for rain," he remarked mildly. "Apparently, it was wrong."

"Yes, sir. Cats and dogs out there. Lucky we didn't drown."

Hammond nodded. The tiniest of smiles curved his lips. "I'd recommend that you bring some towels with you for the next battle, Colonel."

Jack realized that the general knew exactly what they'd been doing. "Towels. Excellent idea, General."

Hammond knelt down in front of Danny, who was staring at him with the same uncertainty that he regarded all strangers.

"Hello, Danny. My name's General Hammond." He held out his hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

The boy hesitated only a moment before taking the general's hand.

"General Hammond is our boss, Danny," Sam explained.

"Yep, he runs this whole place," Jack said.

"You know, my youngest granddaughter is only a few years older than you," Hammond told the boy. "I bet you and she would be good friends. Perhaps, one of these days, Doctor Jackson can bring you over to my house when Kayla and Tessa are there, and you can meet them."

"We'd like that, sir," Daniel replied.

The general got to his feet. "Well, I'd say that you three need to go get dry. Oh, and colonel?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Next time, I wouldn't mind an invite. It's been many years since I participated in a good old water fight. I assume you used weapons with sufficient range."

Surprised, the members of SG-1 exchanged a look.

"Uh, yes, sir. We certainly did," Jack replied. "And we'd be happy to have you join us."

"Carry on, then."

Daniel and Danny went to their quarters to change. They were joined a while later by the rest of the team, who had changed in the locker rooms. Jack, Sam and Teal'c stayed with them the rest of the day.

Watching Danny with his friends, Daniel was pleased with how well the boy was doing. He was smiling more often, laughing, and was not only feeling completely at ease with all of Daniel's teammates, but was also having no issue with any of them watching over him while Daniel was off doing something else.

At that moment, Danny was on Jack's lap as the colonel taught him the old string game often called Cat's Cradle, which was played by making a loop of string and wrapping it various ways around your hands and fingers to create intricate designs.

"I remember playing that," Sam said, watching them.

Daniel smiled. "Me too. The art of making string figures is found in the history of native cultures around the world. With many of them, the practice was connected to their religion and mythology, including magic and divination."

"Well, I just know that it's fun," Jack stated. He looked down at the child on his lap. "Right, Danny."

The boy nodded in agreement.

"I find it quite fascinating," Teal'c said as he watched Jack teach Danny how to do yet another figure.

"Most kids nowadays would find that boring," Sam remarked. "If it's not electronic or doesn't have moving parts, it's not fun."

At 8:30, Danny was put to bed. It had been a long day for him, and he was more than ready to go to sleep. Outside the room, SG-1 talked for a while, then said good night.

As they began to walk away, Daniel called to them. "Guys? Thanks for today. Danny really needs things like this."

"No need to thank us, Daniel," Jack told him. "We're happy to do it."

"And it was fun," Sam added.

Jack looked at her. "More fun than playing with a Naquadah generator?"

Sam thought about it for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, it was."

The colonel patted her on the shoulder. "There's hope for you yet, Major."

Daniel smiled. "Good night, guys."

"Night, Daniel," Sam and Jack said simultaneously.

"Sleep well, Daniel Jackson."

"You too, Teal'c," the archeologist responded.

Still smiling, Daniel slipped back in the room, grateful for friends like that. 


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

For the first time, Danny slept through the night, not a single nightmare disturbing him. Daniel was extremely pleased, lifting his mood way up. His teammates could tell how happy he was at breakfast and asked him for the reason. When he told them, they were also delighted.

For the second afternoon in a row, Danny and SG-1 went up to the top of the mountain. This time, however, Jack had brought a frisbee, and they spent an hour tossing it back and forth. Sometimes, they had to go hunting for it when someone failed to catch it and it went sailing off into the trees.

At one point, the frisbee sailed right between Danny and Sam, and they both went after it. They grabbed it at the same time and had a playful tug-of-war, which ended when Sam suddenly grabbed the boy and began tickling him. His squeals and giggles were a wonderful thing to hear. Daniel finally ran over and rescued his clone, and the two of them ganged up on Sam, now tickling her. And then Danny decided that Daniel needed tickling, too. They were all breathless by the time the tickling was over.

Jack looked around at his teammates, happy with what he saw. They were all relaxed and enjoying themselves, their minds not on work or the worries of the job. His gaze turned to the little boy who was the reason for this change in the team. As an adult, Daniel had the ability to change people for the better, and it appeared that it was a gift the young Daniel had as well.

At that moment, Jack realized that they actually owed the Cedarnans a big thank-you. If they had not cloned Daniel, this joy would not be in SG-1's lives. Danny's presence had given all of them something they needed, a way to forget their worries and cares and just be a bunch of friends having a good time.

Jack's happy thoughts were shattered a moment later as an Air Force jet streaked by high above, a thunderous sonic boom filling the air. Danny started badly. In the next instant, his eyes turned wild, staring at nothing as he started to tremble. By the time Daniel reached him, he was shaking violently, his breathing coming fast and hard.

"Mommy! Daddy!" he screamed, a wail rising out of his throat like that of a tortured animal.

"Ah, damn!" Jack cursed, rushing forward. Daniel was tightly holding the boy, who was struggling in his arms, screaming for his parents. Then, all of a sudden, he went limp.

Daniel lifted the unconscious child into his arms and ran down to the base entrance, his teammates right behind him. Janet hurried forward when she saw them come into the infirmary.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Flashback," Jack replied tightly, recognizing what he'd seen. He was intimately familiar with the experience.

"Put him on a bed," the doctor instructed.

"I was hoping this wouldn't happen to him," Daniel whispered as Janet examined Danny. "I was hoping it wouldn't be like it was for me."

"You had flashbacks?" Sam asked.

The archeologist nodded. "For several months after it happened. They were usually triggered by deep, loud noises, anything that bore a resemblance to the sound of the coverstone falling."

"But you got past them, Daniel," Jack said, "and so will Danny."

"I know. I just wish that he didn't have to go through that."

Janet came up to them. "I think he's going to be all right. He's sleeping now. When he wakes up, he may or may not remember the flashback. It would be best if he wakes up in an environment that he feels safe in."

"I'll take him back to our quarters," Daniel said.

In their quarters, Daniel laid Danny on the bed, covering him up after removing his shoes. Wanting to be right beside the boy when he awoke, Daniel took off his own shoes and settled on the bed next to the child, his back against the headboard. The rest of SG-1 looked at them worriedly.

"Is there anything we can get for you, Daniel?" Sam inquired.

"No, I'm okay. Thanks."

"Would you like us to stay?" Jack asked.

Daniel shook his head. "No, that's not necessary. I'm just going to stay here and wait for him to wake up. You guys need to get back to work."

"Work can wait," Jack declared.

Daniel looked at Teal'c. "Don't you have a class to teach?"

"It can be cancelled," the Jaffa replied.

"No, don't do that. It's okay. Really. I'll be fine."

Reluctantly, Daniel's teammates left. Sam went to her lab and attempted to get some work done, but her mind kept filling with the sight of Danny in the throes of the flashback. Though she'd never had one herself, at least not one that was of her own memories, she'd had a friend in the service who suffered from them after a rough tour of duty. But it was a hundred times worse to witness a child going through one.

Finally, Sam gave up trying to work and went back to Daniel and Danny's quarters. Daniel was still on the bed with his clone when she walked it.

"Sam?" he inquired, surprised.

"Couldn't work," she explained simply, picking up a chair and placing it by the bed next to Daniel. "Has he stirred at all?"

"No." Daniel looked at the boy sadly.

Sam took his hand. "Hey. He'll be okay, Daniel. He's a tough kid, just like you were."

"I made a mistake, Sam. He seemed to be doing so well. I got complacent, forgot that it's still going to be a long time before he really is all right." Daniel swallowed tightly, his eyes not leaving Danny. "It's just . . . it's just so hard to watch him go through this. I want to take it all away, to take that memory out of his mind. After Mom and Dad were killed, you have no idea how many times I wished that I could forget, just blank it all out of my mind. For the longest time, that's all I remembered about my parents, how they died. It took a very long time before I could start thinking about the other things, the good things."

Sam's grip tightened on Daniel's hand. "I'm so sorry, Daniel. I can't even imagine what it was like for you. Mom's death hit me really hard, but if I had actually seen her die. . . ." Her voice broke off. "I don't want to think about what that would have done to me."

Sam reached up and touched Daniel's face. Surprised, he turned to her, meeting her gaze. His eyes were filled with tears on the verge of falling.

"It's okay, Daniel," Sam said in an unsteady voice. "It's okay to cry."

Daniel's chest heaved, his breath catching on a quiet sob. Sam left the chair and wrapped her arms around him as, for the first time since the day his parents died, Daniel let himself cry for them in someone's presence. Sam held on, her own tears wetting her friend's hair.

It was a couple of minutes before Daniel regained control. Feeling uncomfortable and a little ashamed at losing control like that, he wiped his face, not meeting Sam's eyes.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Why? Daniel, I'm your friend. You and I have been through so much together. You've been there for me when I cried, when I really needed a friend. I want to be there for you when you do. Long ago, you made me realize that I didn't have to stay detached, that I didn't have to be the strong, tough officer all the time. You don't have to be tough and strong all the time either, Daniel, especially not with us. We won't think any less of you if you're not."

Daniel sighed softly. "I know, Sam. I just. . . . After they died, I grew up believing that I needed to be strong, independent, not showing that I needed anyone. I _couldn't_ need anyone, because I always knew that every family that fostered me would only be temporary. I couldn't let myself love them, because I'd just have to say goodbye in a few months, maybe a year, if things worked out a little better. As soon as I graduated high school at fifteen, I asked to be made an emancipated adult. I had a full college scholarship and stayed in one of the dorms, so I didn't have to worry about many expenses, and a student loan took care of what expenses there were."

Daniel's gaze drifted off in remembrance. "The day I became emancipated was such a relief to me. No more bouncing from family to family, no more learning the rules of a new household, no more having to become used to a new set of strangers. I was free to concentrate on my studies, on the things that I loved."

Hearing about Daniel's childhood made Sam feel so sad, but it also filled her with wonder. How is it that someone who went through that kind of childhood could grow up to be so compassionate and self-sacrificing, caring more for the welfare of others than himself, wanting so much to help others that he'd go through anything to do so, even sacrificing his own life. It was nothing short of a miracle.

"Have I ever told you, Daniel, that I am very proud of you?" Sam asked softly.

Surprised, Daniel stared at her. "What? I, um . . . why would you be proud?"

"Because you're who you are, somebody I am proud and honored to have as a friend and as a teammate."

Blushing, Daniel looked away.

Sam smiled. He was just too darn cute when he got embarrassed. Actually, he was cute _all_ the time.

_'Oh, don't go there, Sam,'_ she told herself. _'That's dangerous territory. You've steered clear of that territory for a very long time. Now is not the time to venture there.' _

Unaware of Sam's thoughts, Daniel met her eyes, gazing for a long moment into the blue depths. He felt something shift inside him in the vicinity of his heart. Surprised and alarmed by the feeling, he broke contact with her eyes, clearing his throat.

"I could sure use some coffee," he commented.

"Actually, so could I. How about if I go get us some?"

"Sure. Thanks."

After Sam left, Daniel looked down at the child sleeping beside him. Strangely, he felt better after having let himself cry. He felt . . . lighter. Daniel realized that, for all these years, the weight of grief over his parents' death had still been there in his heart, buried and almost forgotten until the Keeper on P7J-989 dug it up, then buried once again afterwards. No one had given him the comfort he really needed, the pain never shared with anybody, and so the pain had never really gone away. Now that he had finally done those things, some of the weight had at last been lifted.

Daniel felt a movement and turned his attention back to Danny. The boy stirred again, his eyes slowly opening. For a moment, he looked confused, uncertain. Then remembrance filled his face, his eyes pooling with tears. Daniel pulled him close.

"It's all right, Danny. I know what you're feeling, and it's okay. It's okay. Just let it all out."

Danny began to cry in earnest. "It fell," he sobbed. "It fell."

Daniel held him a little tighter. "I know, Danny. It fell, and you couldn't stop it."

"I want my mom and dad," Danny cried.

"God, Danny. I know you do. I'd do anything in the world if I could give them to you."

As Danny wept heartbrokenly, Daniel soothed him as best as he was able. When Sam came in and saw what was happening, she set down the cups of coffee and went to the other side of the bed. She put her arms around Danny as well, laying her cheek upon the back of his head, whispering her own soothing words and sounds.

The three of them stayed like that for a long time, until Danny's crying quieted. Sam sat up, her eyes remaining on the child. A short while later, he drifted back to sleep, emotionally exhausted.

"He spoke, Sam," Daniel said.

Sam looked at him. "What?"

"He spoke. Just before you came in."

Sam smiled. "He did?"

Daniel returned the smile. "Yeah. It's the best thing I could have hoped for."

"That's great, Daniel. It's wonderful."

Daniel's smile softened. "He really is going to be okay."

"Yes. Yes, he is."

As Daniel and Sam's gaze remained upon each other, they both felt a tugging, a desire. Slowly, without any real conscious thought, their faces drew closer until they could feel each other's breath.

A mere inch separated their lips when they both woke up to what they were doing. Simultaneously, they quickly drew back.

"Uhhh, I, um. . . . That was. . . ." Flustered and embarrassed, Daniel stammered to a halt.

"Yeah. That, um. . . ." Sam laughed a little nervously. "That shouldn't have happened."

The two of them looked away, Sam putting more distance between them. Her cheeks were burning, both with embarrassment and with the remnants of the emotion that had led to them almost kissing.

She got off the bed, feeling jittery. "I should probably . . . probably go back to work."

Daniel just nodded, not trusting his voice.

"So . . . I-I guess I'll see you later."

Sam escaped the room. Daniel stared unseeingly at the door, wondering what the hell had just happened. He and Sam had been an inch away from kissing. What he'd felt in those seconds was definitely something he should not have felt, not for Sam.

There was only one other time that he'd felt something like that for her: the day SG-1 found him, without his memory, on Vis Uban. When he first looked upon Sam, and then again when she came into his tent and spoke to him, he had felt . . . something, an emotion that led to him asking her if there had ever been anything between them. The feeling had faded as his memories returned, and he never thought about it again.

But he was thinking about it now and wondering how he could possibly feel something like that for Sam. Yes, she was a beautiful, brilliant, passionate woman any man should feel privileged to have as a girlfriend, but he and Sam were just close friends and occasional confidants, that's all.

No, what he'd just felt now and back on Vis Uban was merely caused by the heightened emotions of the moment. It was nothing. He needed to just forget about it.

* * *

When Danny awoke, he was very subdued and not speaking, and Daniel was afraid that he had lapsed back into silence. He put the boy on his lap.

"Danny, will you talk to me? I know that maybe you're afraid or that you don't want to talk, but it's safe. I promise. I'd really like for you to talk with me."

The boy said nothing, staring down at his hands. After a moment, Daniel gave a silent, sad sigh and brushed a hand through Danny's hair. "It's okay, Danny. You don't have to talk until you're ready." He turned away and began reaching for the phone to call his teammates and let them know that Danny was awake.

"Are you going to take care of me?" came a tiny, barely audible whisper.

Feeling almost delirious with relief, Daniel had to keep his voice calm and quiet with an effort. "Are you asking if you're going to come live with me?"

The little boy nodded.

"Yes, you are, once we're not staying here on the base anymore."

"For always?" This question was only slightly louder than the last.

"Well, at least until you're all grown up and get a place of your own." Daniel paused a moment. "Will that be all right? I do want you to come live with me, Danny. It would be just the two of us, except when Jack, Sam, Teal'c or Janet come to visit."

Danny took a moment to respond. When he did, it was with a nod of the head. He then wrapped his arms around the archeologist's waist. Daniel returned the hug. After a few seconds, he felt wetness on his shirt.

"Why did they have to die?" Danny asked, crying.

"Oh, Danny. It was an accident, just a terrible accident. Sometimes, things like that just happen. The chain holding the coverstone broke. I don't know for sure why. Maybe it was too weak to hold the weight. Maybe it was damaged."

"If I could have run real fast and pulled them out before it fell, they would be all right."

Daniel closed his eyes. For so long, he had run the events of that day through his mind over and over again, trying to figure out what he could have done to save his family. The Keeper had wanted him to relive it repeatedly, trying endlessly to save his parents. But the truth was that he couldn't have saved them, not unless he could have foreseen the future and kept them from going to the museum.

"Danny, it happened too quickly," he told his clone. "Nobody could have run that fast. And, if you had tried, you might have been killed, too. I know you wish so much that it had never happened, but it did, and nothing can change that. Your mom and dad loved you very much, and they'd want you to live and be happy." Daniel tightened his hold. "So do I."

Danny lifted his eyes to meet Daniel's. "I don't want you to go away, too."

"I don't want to go away either, and I hope that doesn't happen for a very long time, but. . . ." Daniel paused, not sure if he should say the next words, words that were true, but not what a grieving child would want to hear. Yet to lie to Danny might only cause further damage if something ever happened to Daniel. "I hope that I will be here for a long time to come, until I'm very old, but I can't promise that nothing will ever happen to me. I wish I could." He brushed his fingers over the boy's cheek. "But, for as long as I _am_ here, you will have a home with me." He put on a smile. "Well, at least until I'm so old and senile that you have to put me in a home for old people."

That last comment earned a barely discernable smile from Danny.

"Would you like to eat something? It's almost dinnertime. We can either eat in the commissary or I can ask somebody to bring something here."

Danny thought about it for a little while. "We can go there."

"Would you like me to call Sam, Jack and Teal'c so they can join us?"

Upon getting a nod from Danny, Daniel called his teammates, who all said that they'd meet the two for dinner.

As soon as Sam saw Danny, she knelt and gave him a big hug.

"Hey, there, kiddo. How are you doing?" Jack asked, keeping his tone light, though he had the urge to hug the boy as well.

"Okay," Danny replied, surprising both Jack and Teal'c and making Sam smile.

"It is good to hear you speak, young Daniel Jackson," the Jaffa said with a pleased expression.

"Yeah, but you know what this means," Jack responded, delighted but hiding it well.

"What's that, sir?" Sam asked.

"Well, if _this_ Daniel Jackson," he laid a hand on Danny's shoulder, "is like _that_ Daniel Jackson," he pointed at Daniel, "we're now going to have _two_ people talking a mile a minute. My head is going to explode for sure. And I don't even want to think about what's going to happen after Danny becomes an archeologist, too. One archeologist by the name of Daniel Jackson is already too much for me to handle."

Daniel looked down at his clone. "When we get back to my office, I'll have to teach you how to train colonels, Danny. That's an important thing to know."

Sam had to clamp down on a laugh.

"Funny, Daniel," Jack said sarcastically. He looked at Danny. "Don't you listen to him, kid. He only _thinks_ he's trained me, when, actually, I've been lulling him into a false sense of security, waiting for the right time to strike back."

"Ah, and when's that going to be, Jack?" Daniel asked. "Going on six and a half years now. Waiting until we're all retired?"

"I was thinking of when we're all in the old folks home. You won't be able to outrun me in a wheelchair."

"You guys are funny," Danny piped up, not really smiling, but looking a little happier.

"Ah, gotta love an appreciative audience," Jack said. "Come on. Let's eat."

Danny wasn't in the mood to play after dinner, so Sam sat on the bed with him and read aloud a book that she got for him. Jack was playing chess with Teal'c, while Daniel watched. The archeologist had been the one to teach the Jaffa the game and enjoyed watching him beat Jack.

Daniel's mind was not really on the game tonight, however. He kept glancing over at Sam under the guise of watching Danny. Sooner or later, they were going to be in a situation where they were alone together, and he was nervous about it. He knew that they needed to talk about what happened, but he really didn't want to do that. He would rather pretend that it never happened and move on, put it out of his mind.

Danny fell asleep before Sam finished the book. Daniel picked him up and held him as Sam pulled back the covers. Together, they got Danny into his pajamas and tucked him in. Their eyes met a couple of times, but, on both occasions, they quickly looked away. Maybe they really did need to talk. They sure couldn't keep going on like this.

* * *

SG-1 was called to another briefing about Cedarna the next morning. Like before, Teal'c watched over Danny, this time doing so in Daniel's quarters.

"Well, I've got some good news," Janet announced when the briefing began. "Like I suspected, there is a chemical in the soil that counteracts the spermicide. We've managed to isolate it, and I believe that we'll be able to synthesize it, though we'll have to conduct tests on the synthesized chemical to make sure it's safe. In the meantime, there's a high enough concentration of the natural chemical in the soil that we should be able to extract enough from a relatively small amount of soil to supply the Cedarnans for several weeks at a time. If they add it to the water they drink and use for irrigation, it will neutralize the spermicide."

"Will it also reverse the effects in their bodies?" Sam asked.

"Unfortunately, the level that's present in their bodies is so high that it would take massive doses of the neutralizer to get rid of it. It wouldn't be safe to give them that high a dose all at once. Small injections over the course of several years may work, but I really can't say for sure how many years it would take to completely rid their bodies of the chemical. I'm pretty sure that the children they have now would be mostly free of it by the time they reach maturity. As for the adults . . . those in their early twenties will likely be clean before they are past their reproductive years. And, if this works as I believe it will, as their bodies are gradually cleansed of the chemical, sperm count should slowly rise, increasing the odds of conception. I'd say the chances are good that, within the next twelve to fifteen years, their population will be able to start recovering from this."

"That's great news," Daniel said, relieved. Though it would take a while, the streets of Cedarna would once again be filled with the laughter of children. "We need to go back there and let them know."

"Doctor Fraiser, how long do you think it will be before you have enough of the neutralizer to start treating the water?" Hammond asked.

"That's hard to say. Extracting the neutralizer isn't a quick process. Once we get a good supply of the soil, I'll have a better idea. If I had to guess, I'd say a week or two before we have enough for the drinking water and to begin inoculations on the entire population, longer for the irrigation water. Of course, they'll have to build some kind of water treatment facility so that the neutralizer can be added to the water before it's piped into the fields."

"We can help them with that," Sam said. "It wouldn't be all that much different from water treatment plants we have on Earth."

"Wouldn't it be easier just to move them all to another planet?" Jack asked.

"Probably so," Daniel replied, "but another planet wouldn't have that weapon, which has protected them from the Goa'uld all these centuries. We'll have to ask them what they want to do. In the end, it's their decision."

Hammond nodded. "Very well. We'll schedule a mission back to the planet for tomorrow morning. If the people choose to stay, we can get started on helping them build a treatment plant and extracting the neutralizer from the soil. Ideally, we'd want to give them the ability to do the extraction themselves."

Daniel had a thought. "Janet, we know that this spermicide is in the water, but where is it coming from? We figured that it wasn't from the rain or snow, so maybe the chemical is being leached from something, some kind of mineral in the higher elevations where the rivers originate."

Sam nodded. "That's possible."

"So?" Jack questioned.

"If it isn't coming from the rain, they can set up water storage tanks that are fed by rainwater, they can set up water storage tanks that are fed by rainwater," Daniel replied. "Then, in the drier seasons, they can use that water for their crops. Collecting and storing rainwater is done by civilizations around the world, especially island nations where rain is the only source of domestic water."

"Great idea, Daniel," Sam responded, smiling. "Then they wouldn't be as dependant on the treated water."

"All right, we'll schedule the mission for tomorrow at 0800 hours," Hammond said. He looked at Jack. "Will SG-1 be returning or would you prefer to assign another team, Colonel?"

Jack met Daniel's eyes. "We'll go, sir. We might as well finish what we started."

Hammond nodded and turned to Daniel. "How is Danny doing? I heard about the flashback he had yesterday. It's terrible enough for something like that to happen to an adult, let alone a child."

"He's doing better, sir, though he's still a little subdued. He's talking now, which is a big step forward. _I_ didn't talk for three months."

The general smiled. "That is good news. Please keep me informed of his progress." His smile got slightly bigger. "And if you need someone to watch him while you're off-world tomorrow, I'm sure I could spare a few hours."

Surprised, Daniel returned the smile. "Thank you, sir. I might take you up on that. I don't know if Janet will be able to watch him."

"I might not be able to, Daniel," the doctor responded. "We've got several patients in the infirmary right now, three of whom are serious."

SG-1 left the briefing room and went to Daniel's quarters. There was no Kel'no'reeming going on when they got there. Instead, even more surprisingly, Teal'c appeared to be teaching Danny something that looked very much like Tai Chi. Daniel, Sam and Jack watched the Jaffa and the boy go through a series of graceful arm, leg and body movements, Teal'c guiding the child where necessary.

"Wow, that's beautiful," Sam said when they halted.

"Yes, it is," Daniel agreed. He'd have to ask Teal'c more about it later. Right now, he was more interested in Danny. The boy appeared to be doing a lot better than he was when Daniel left this morning. He'd woken up twice the night before because of nightmares and had been pretty withdrawn, enough that Daniel had been tempted to ask that the briefing be rescheduled.

The archeologist had to wonder if he had Teal'c to thank for the difference he was now seeing in his clone. Among other things, Tai Chi was recognized as a way of relieving stress. It was called a form of meditation by some people.

"How are you doing, Danny?" he asked.

"Okay. Teal'c said that I might feel better if we did some of the Jaffa Tai Chi."

"Jaffa Tai Chi?" Sam repeated.

"That's not what it's really called, but he said that I wouldn't be able to pronounce the real word. Jaffa Tai Chi is kinda like what the Chinese people do. Did you know that Teal'c's people call themselves Jaffa?"

"Yes, I did." Daniel looked at the alien. "Thank, Teal'c."

"You are welcome, Daniel Jackson."

Throughout the remainder of the day, SG-1 did their best to brighten Danny's mood. Though Sam and Jack both had work to do, they set aside part of their day for the boy and were finally rewarded with smiles and laughter.

Not wanting to dim Danny's mood, Daniel decided to wait until morning to tell him that they were going to be leaving on a mission.

As he tucked Danny in that night, the boy surprised him with a kiss on the cheek and a hug about the neck. Daniel smiled down at him, tousling his hair.

"Sweet dreams, Danny," he said.

The boy kept looking at him. "Daniel?"

"Hmm?"

"Is it okay to love you?"

The question caught Daniel off-guard, and it took him a couple of seconds to answer.

"Yes, of course it is. Did you think it wasn't?"

"I was afraid that, if I loved you, you'd die like Mom and Dad did," Danny admitted in a tiny voice.

The comment hit Daniel like a blow to the solar plexis. He knew that fear oh so well. He had always been aware that it started with the death of his parents, but to hear it spoken aloud by Danny was heart-wrenching.

Daniel took both of the boy's hands in his. "Danny, I want you to understand something. Just because you love someone doesn't mean that they'll die. Life doesn't work that way. Yes, we do sometimes lose people we love, but, many times, those we love are with us for a long time, sometimes our whole lives." He caressed the boy's cheek. "It is safe to love people, Danny. If you don't let yourself love, you'll always be lonely."

Danny gazed up at him for a moment longer, then threw his arms around Daniel's neck. "I love you," he whispered.

Feeling his throat tighten, Daniel hugged him back. "I love you, too, Danny, very much."

He tucked the child back in and pressed a gentle kiss on Danny's brow. As he watching the little boy drift into sleep, the thought went through his mind that the Cedarnans had it right. Children were, indeed, a great blessing. 


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

"Can't I go with you?" Danny asked the next morning when Daniel told the boy he had to go away for a while.

"No, I'm afraid not, Danny. It has to do with my work."

Danny was clearly disappointed. "Will Uncle Jack, or Sam, or Teal'c be watching me?"

"No, they need to go, too. You see, the four of us are a team, which means that we go together for things like this."

Now, Danny was starting to look a little scared. "You'll come back?" he said in a little voice.

"Of course we'll come back," Daniel replied. "We'll only be gone a few hours. We'll be just fine."

"Who's gonna take care of me?" Danny asked, his voice still muted.

"Well, I was hoping that Janet could, but she's going to be really busy today. So, how would you like to spend some time with General Hammond?"

"The man who's your boss?"

"Uh huh. He told me that he'd love to take care of you while we're gone. He's got two granddaughters, so I'm sure that he'll play some games with you." Daniel looked at the child closely. "Will that be all right?"

Danny didn't say anything for a moment, then he nodded slightly.

Daniel ran a hand through his hair. "It'll be fine, Danny."

The archeologist was about to call General Hammond to tell him that they were on their way when he suddenly realized something.

_'Crap,'_ he cursed silently. He turned back to Danny. "Um, I just remembered something, Danny. Is it okay if you're here by yourself for a few minutes?"

Daniel could tell that the boy didn't like the idea, but Danny bravely nodded.

"I'll be right back."

Daniel left the VIP room and went to the nearest phone to call the general's office.

"Doctor Jackson. Will you be bringing young Danny here this morning?" Hammond asked.

"I was going to, sir, but then I realized something. The sound of the gate dialing up and opening could cause another flashback."

"I admit that I didn't consider that."

"And, even if it didn't, he would wonder what the sounds are. He can't be anywhere near the gate room when we leave or when we return."

"You're right, of course. All right, how about if I meet you in the commissary? After you leave, I can take Danny to my office. Then, shortly before you're scheduled to return, we'll go back to the commissary. Actually, let's meet there a little sooner so that the boy can get to know me better before you go."

About twenty minutes before SG-1 was scheduled to leave, Daniel and Danny met General Hammond in the commissary. Daniel stayed for several minutes as the boy became a bit more familiar with Hammond, who chatted with Danny easily, asking him about the things he liked to do and the games he liked to play. Watching them, Daniel felt a touch of sadness. This was something he never got with his grandfather. Nick was always more interested in his work than in his only grandson.

Glancing at his watch, Daniel saw that he needed to hurry if he was going to get outfitted for the mission in time.

"I need to get going, Danny," he said.

Danny's mood instantly dimmed. Daniel gave him a hug, which the boy returned tightly.

"I'll be back in a few hours, okay?" Daniel told him. He got a small nod against his chest in reply.

Gently separating himself from the boy, Daniel left the commissary, waving back over his shoulder before going through the door.

Chevron Six had just been encoded when Daniel entered the gate room.

"So, Danny all situated with the general?" Jack asked.

"Yeah."

Sam saw the concern on the archeologist's face. "He'll be okay, Daniel."

"I know. And it's good for him to be away from all of us and see that everything will still be all right."

The opening of the wormhole ended the conversation. Seconds later, SG-1 stepped onto Cedarna. This time, as they entered the town, everyone stopped and stared at them, some with surprise, others with fear. A nervous and very subdued Esha and Derdri met them.

"We did not think that you would return," the Cedarnan man said. "Are you . . . are you here to take away the machine that makes the clones?"

The expression in the man's eyes tore at Daniel's heart. He looked so sad and defeated.

"No, Esha," Daniel replied gently. "We're here to tell you that we have a cure for your problem."

Utter shock filled the man's face. "A-a-a cure?"

Daniel smiled. "Yes."

The man suddenly began to weep, as did Derdri.

"We did not hope, we did not dream that you would still help us," Esha said in a trembling voice thick with emotion. "After the way we betrayed you, the most we could hope for is that you would not take the machine."

"Well, we will be taking it," Jack said, "but you're not going to need it anymore."

Esha grasped Daniel's hands, tears still pouring down his cheeks. "How can we ever thank you? How can we ever repay you?"

"By giving all your children a loving home where they never have to worry about being alone," Daniel replied.

"This we will do with joyous hearts!" Esha declared. He beamed at SG-1. "Come. Let us talk more of this so that you can explain this miracle."

They went to the meeting room.

"First, we need to explain that this isn't an instant cure," Sam said. "It will take several years for the chemical inside your bodies to be neutralized, probably a good twelve years or more."

"Before then, you may see some increases in your birthrate," Daniel added, "but probably not for a few years yet."

"The children we have now, the ones who are not clones, they will be cured before they are of the age to bear children?" Derdri asked.

"Mostly," Sam replied. "And your young adults may also be able to have kids before they're too old."

"It will take a while, but, in time, your civilization will recover from this," Daniel said. "In a generation, there will be many children."

"A generation," Esha murmured. He looked pleased, but also a little sad. "This is far more than we could have expected. Our people owe you our eternal thanks."

"There is something that you need to know," Daniel said, knowing that he had to explain why this whole thing happened. As he told the Cedarnans about the water and the soil and how the wild grown plants and animals they used to eat were giving them an immunity to the chemical, Esha and Derdri were appalled.

"We did this to ourselves," the woman said. "We poisoned our own people."

"You couldn't have known," Sam responded. "We've never run across anything like this, not on all the worlds we've visited."

"What's important is that you know now," Daniel told them. "You need to go back to some of the old ways, begin gathering the wild plants and fruits again. I'd understand if you don't want to return to eating other meat, but you need to stop eating fish or, at the very least, dramatically reduce the role it plays in your diet."

The two Cedarnans looked at each other.

"Our people will need to speak of these things," Esha said. "It must be a decision made by all."

Sam and Daniel explained about the neutralizer and the steps that would need to be taken regarding the water treatment and inoculations.

"There is another alternative," the archeologist said. "If you wish, we can find a new home for you on another world, one that has clean, safe water."

"This is our home," Derdri said. "We have been here for as far back as our history records."

"If we moved to another world, we would not have the protection of the weapon," Esha stated.

"No, you wouldn't," Daniel responded, "but the bad water would never be a problem again. This is something that your people are going to have to decide on. If you decide to move, we can find a place for you, help you relocate, and give you some help in building a new city."

"We will discuss this at length."

"We'll wait for your answer," Sam said.

"Esha . . . there is something else we may be able to give you," Daniel said slowly, "but it would require that you change your viewpoint about something. I know that you're delighted about the children that will be coming in future years, but I also know that you and the rest of your people long for children now. On our world, there is such a thing as a sperm bank. It's where men donate sperm to be used by couples that can't have children because the man is sterile or has some other problem that makes him unable to father children. We haven't gotten permission for this yet, but, if our government says it's okay, we could give some of that sperm to you and teach you how to use it to fertilize the eggs from your women. If that was done, your people could start having children within a year."

Surprised, the Cedarnans looked at each other.

"We never dreamed that such a thing was possible," Esha said.

"Our people have been doing this for years," Sam explained. "Though conception isn't guaranteed, the odds are a great deal better than what you have now through natural breeding."

"But, Esha, you have to realize that we can't just give you sperm from men who have the kind of personalities you prize," Daniel told the man. "Though some records are kept on each donor, they are not that extensive."

"But what if some of the men have violent ways?"

"Hey, that's the risk that a lot of people take," Jack responded. "You can't guarantee what your kids are going to be like when they grow up, not even if they really are your kids."

Daniel leaned forward over the table, meeting the eyes of the Cedarnan man. "Esha, genetics, what we inherit from our parents, only plays a part in who we are. What's just as important, sometimes even _more_ important, is how a child is raised, the environment he lives in, the example his parents set for him. I lost my parents when I was only eight. After they were gone, I had no family to care for me. I had to grow up with strangers, never in the same home for more than a year. I know that who I am now, some of the ways that I feel about things, some of my fears and beliefs, come from that life. If my parents hadn't died, I know that I would be different in a lot of ways. A child's genes are not all that they are as a person. The love and security they are given, the values they are taught, help shape them into who they grow up to be."

Both Esha and Derdri were silent for a long time.

"You have given us much to think about," the man finally said.

"We can come back in a few days and find out what you've decided," Sam stated. "Before we go, though, we can talk to some of your engineers and builders on what would be needed for the water treatment plant."

"Yes, that would be wise," Derdri agreed. "It would give us more information to help with our decision."

Everyone left the meeting room. Sam went off with Derdri. Having no practical knowledge on constructing a water treatment plant, the major had downloaded as much information as she could into her laptop and had also talked via phone to an expert in the field.

Esha approached Daniel. "May I speak to you in private?"

Jack looked slightly suspicious, but didn't object when Daniel walked off with the Cedarnan.

"Your forgiveness and generosity humble me, Daniel," Esha said. "I did not believe that you could ever forgive us."

"I didn't forgive you right away, Esha, not completely, but I understood why you did it. I could sympathize with your plight. My wife and I tried for a year to have children, but she never got pregnant. Then . . . I lost her."

"I am sorry. Then you truly do understand our pain."

"Yes."

Esha studied his profile as they continued to walk. "How is the child who is a copy of you? Is he well?"

"He's getting better. It's going to be a while yet before he's completely well."

"You are caring for him?"

"Yes," Daniel smiled, "although it's actually a group effort. All of my teammates are helping, plus some others at the SGC."

Esha also smiled. "Then he will be well-loved."

"Yes. Yes, he will."

Esha's keen eyes pierced him. "As you were not?"

Daniel's gaze fell to the ground. He kept walking. "I . . . had over eight years of love. After that, I think that some of the people who took care of me loved me, at least as much as they could love a child who was with them for so short a time. After I reached adulthood, I gained friends that really cared about me. When I met my wife and came to live with her people, I gained a family and thousands of friends. They're all gone now. But my teammates, they're my family, my best friends. We never really talk about it, but I love them, and I know that they feel the same."

"I am glad, Daniel. No one should be without love in their life."

* * *

Besides speaking with the Cedarnans about the cure to their problem, SG-1 also asked to see the hidden chamber where the cloning machine and other advanced technology was found. Any devices that could be removed already had been, so there wasn't much left. Daniel was unable to translate the samples of writing he found, but Derdri told him that, after years of research, the Cedarnans were able to get a grasp on the language, though not in its entirety. She told him that they'd be happy to share with him what they had. Daniel hoped that he might eventually be able to figure out what race had built the chamber and the weapon.

The Cedarnans would also allow the SGC to borrow and study the other technology that was in the chamber. As Jack had already told them, the cloning machine would be taken back to Earth. It would not be returned to the Cedarnans. That would be one of the conditions of the trade agreement.

SG-1 returned to the SGC on schedule. Before they left Cedarna, Esha had insisted that photographs be taken of all four of them, saying that he wanted the pictures for their historical records. It turned out that the photos were actually three-dimensional holographic images. When Sam showed an interest in the technology, Esha assured her that it would be included in the trade agreement.

As expected, Hammond wasn't there to greet them. Before going off to their post-mission exams, they went to the commissary. What they saw there made them freeze their tracks. Danny was on the shoulders of Walter Harriman, who was running around the room, making galloping noises. There was an imaginary Western shootout going on between General Hammond and Siler on one side and Colonel Reynolds and Colonel Dixon of SG-13 on the other side, all of whom were crouched behind tables. A sizable audience was watching the proceedings, some cheering, others booing.

As Walter and Danny approached the battling "gunmen," the boy pulled on the sergeant's collar.

"Whoa, Silver!" he cried. Then he aimed his finger like a gun and opened fire on the two colonels, who fell "dead" to the ground. The general and Siler got to their feet.

"Thank you, Lone Ranger," Hammond said in a Texas drawl. "We couldn't have gotten those varmints without you."

"Glad I could help," Danny replied, grinning.

Wondering if they'd somehow ended up in an alternate universe, the four members of SG-1 stood gaping at the sight, even Teal'c's mouth hanging open.

"Daniel!" Danny cried, having just spotted them. Everyone turned toward the entrance as the boy wiggled on Walter's shoulders, demanding silently to be put down. The sergeant lowered him to the ground, and the boy ran to Daniel, who scooped him up into his arms.

"We've been playing Wild, Wild West," Danny informed him excitedly.

"Yes, I can see that," Daniel responded, grinning.

"This is so not fair," Jack stated. "We go on a boring mission and miss all the action here."

Hammond came up to them. "Danny was feeling a little down about you being gone, so we decided to cheer him up."

"Uncle General George is from Texas, where they used to have wild West fights all the time," Danny informed SG-1.

"Uncle General George?" Jack repeated with a growing smile.

"We tried for just Uncle George, but he preferred that," Hammond explained.

Jack looked at Harriman. "Walter? I had no idea you possessed equine abilities."

"Eight nieces and nephews, sir. It comes in handy."

The colonel turned to Reynolds and Dixon. "Reynolds? I didn't know you had it in you."

"I do have kids, Jack," the leader of SG-3 responded, unfazed.

"And what about you, Dixon? I thought you couldn't even stand to be around your own kids for more than a few hours at a time."

"Hey, the mini Daniel Jackson's easier to deal with, a lot more well-mannered than the brats at home. A hell of a lot quieter, that's for sure."

General Hammond looked around. "All right, everyone. Back to work."

The group broke up and returned to their jobs. Siler tousled Danny's hair as he walked by.

"See you later, Danny."

"See _you_ later, pardner!" Jack called to the departing sergeant in a fake southern drawl.

"How did your mission go?" Hammond asked as he walked with SG-1 and Danny toward the elevator.

"Pretty good, sir," Jack replied.

"Have you had your post-mission checkups yet?"

"No, sir."

"Okay, go get that taken care of. We'll debrief in an hour."

Danny waited in Janet's office while SG-1 got their physical exams, then Daniel took the boy to their quarters, asking if he'd be okay by himself for a while. Danny didn't have as much of an issue about it this time and said he'd be all right.

When they got to the briefing room, SG-1 saw that the shield was over the window, hiding the view of the gate room, an obvious necessity for when Danny was in the general's office. Hammond pressed the button to lift the shield before taking a seat.

"Before we begin, I wanted to say, Doctor Jackson, that Danny is a delight," he stated. "As I mentioned, he was a little sad about all of you being gone. He's formed quite an attachment to the four of you. After a while, though, we were able to cheer him up."

"He appeared to be having a ball, sir," Jack remarked.

"Thank you for taking care of him," Daniel said, "and for making him feel better."

"It was my pleasure, Doctor, _our_ pleasure. On my days off, I would be more than happy to babysit him, that is once he can leave the base."

The debriefing got underway, SG-1 explaining what they told the Cedarnans and what the response was.

"They asked us to return in four days," Daniel said. "They said that they'd have an answer for us by then."

"All right, we'll schedule the mission for Thursday morning," Hammond said. He dismissed the team. "Doctor Jackson, please stay. I'd like to speak with you."

Daniel and the general went to his office.

"Have you decided how and when you're going to tell Danny about his true identity?" the elder man asked.

"I've thought a lot about it, but I really don't know what I'm going to say. How do you tell a child something like that?"

"I understand what you mean. In my experience, however, I've found that children are a great deal more open-minded and accepting of the truth than most adults. It may upset him at first, but Danny is a strong, intelligent boy, and I think that he'll be all right."

"I hope so, sir."

"You will be remaining on base until he is told?" Hammond asked.

"Yes. Once he goes beyond the base, he's going to figure out one way or another that it's not 1973. There's no other explanation I can give for that other than the truth or an elaborate lie, and I won't lie to him like that."

"No, of course not. No one would expect you to."

"I'm hoping that, in another few days, he'll be strong enough psychologically to be told. Everyone has been so great with him. He needs this kind of interaction with people, to play and be a kid. I know it's helping a lot."

"We're all willing to do anything for that little boy, Doctor Jackson," the general said sincerely. "He's captured more than a few hearts on this base. Any time you need a hand or perhaps just some advice about being a father, there will be no shortage of volunteers."

"Thank you, sir," Daniel responded with deep gratitude.

When Daniel got to his quarters, he found Sam with Danny. She'd been lying on her stomach on the bed with him, but got up when Daniel came in.

"I thought I'd keep him company while you were with Hammond," she explained. "The colonel offered, but a call came for him."

"Thanks, Sam."

The two adults faced each other, both of them uncomfortable and not quite meeting the other's eyes.

"Sam, I . . . I think we need to talk about . . . it," Daniel said at last.

The major sighed softly. "Yes, I guess we do. Tonight?"

"Okay."

Sam turned to Danny, who was staring back and forth between them in puzzlement and curiosity. "I'll see you later, Danny." She passed by Daniel, giving him a small smile, then quietly left the room.

"What's wrong with you and Sam?" Danny instantly asked. "Did you have a fight? When Mom and Dad had a fight, they sometimes acted a little like that."

"No, we didn't have a fight, Danny. Something happened that we need to talk about."

"What?"

For a fleeting moment, Daniel wished that the boy hadn't regained his voice. He couldn't ask awkward questions when he was mute.

"It's a grown-up thing, Danny."

Danny gave him a mini version of the Daniel Jackson frown of displeasure. "Whenever Mom and Dad didn't want to tell me something they said that."

Daniel smiled in spite of himself. "Yes, I remember. I mean, I remember my parents doing the same thing." He sat on the bed. "Okay. If I tell you something, do you swear not to tell anyone else?"

Danny nodded.

Daniel thought about how to proceed. He had to remember that Danny was not a child of the twenty-first century. Back when Daniel was this age, young children didn't know nearly as much about adult relationships and sex as kids nowadays do. They were a whole lot more innocent. On top of that, Daniel had not been exposed to much TV at that age, so it had not contributed to his "education" in that regard.

"You know that Sam and I are really good friends, the best of friends," he began.

"Uh huh."

"Do you understand the difference between loving someone like a friend and loving someone in the way that your mom and dad loved each other?"

"When you love somebody like Mom and Dad did, you kiss a lot on the mouth."

Daniel couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Uh, yes, that is true, but it's more complicated than that." Daniel tried to remember if his parents had told him the facts of life, then realized that they must have since he certainly had no memory of any of his foster parents doing so. "Did your parents explain to you about where babies come from?"

"Sure. The dads and moms make the babies together, and the babies grow inside the moms' tummies until they're big enough to come out." He frowned in remembrance. "They said little things that look like tadpoles come from the dad, swim inside the mom and go into a little egg inside her that doesn't have a shell. The two things together make a baby, which starts out really, really small, but gets bigger."

Daniel gave a silent sigh of relief, thankful that his parents had done a good job of explaining things. "That's right. Usually, only people who love each other in the way that your mom and dad did make babies on purpose. That's called romantic love."

"Babies can be made by accident?"

Daniel coughed. "Uhhh . . . yeeeah, sometimes. We . . . we can talk about that some other time."

"Did you and Sam make a baby?"

"No!" Daniel exclaimed, startling Danny. "Sorry. I didn't mean to shout. No, we didn't make a baby." He sighed. "I'm not doing a good job of explaining this, am I. What I'm trying to say is that, when people love each other in the romantic way, like your parents did, they do all that stuff like kissing on the mouth, going out on dates, sleeping almost every night in the same bed, and making babies. Usually, they get married, like your parents did. Friends, on the other hand, don't do those things. They love each other in a different way, with friendship love. They sometimes hug each other and give kisses on the cheek or forehead."

Daniel recalled something. "Do you remember Rafi, the son of one of the diggers in Karnak?"

"Uh huh."

"He was your friend, but you wouldn't have kissed him on the mouth, right?"

Danny made a disgusted face. "Of course not. He was a boy."

"Uh, yeah. Right. Anyway, do you also remember his sister, Ara?"

Danny nodded.

"Do you remember how you felt about her?"

"Different. She kissed me."

Daniel smiled. "Yes, she sure did. And you kind of liked it, didn't you."

"Sort of," the boy admitted, staring at a button on his shirt that he was now fiddling with.

"Okay, that's the difference between loving someone like a friend and loving someone with romantic love. Sam and I have always loved each other like friends, for all the years we've known each other. She kissed me on the face once, and we've hugged. We've done fun things together, like you and Rafi did. We sometimes talk about things that friends do. We've never done any of those romantic love things . . . until day before yesterday."

Danny looked straight into Daniel's eyes. "Did you kiss on the mouth?"

"We almost did, but we stopped before it happened. When we almost kissed, I felt things that people who are only friends don't feel, things that usually come before romantic love. The problem is that I shouldn't have felt that, and we shouldn't have almost kissed."

"Why not?"

"Because Sam and I should only be friends. Being more than that would be a really big problem because we're on the same team. Also, we've been just friends for so long that . . . that it's hard to think of us being more."

"You don't want to be more?"

Daniel thought about that question. Would he want to be more than friends with Sam? Intelligent, passionate and caring, there was no denying that she was the kind of woman he could be happy with, especially since they got along so well together. They could probably have a strong, happy, mutually satisfying relationship. But, God, would it ever complicate their lives. One of them would likely have to leave SG-1 if either Jack or the general objected to their relationship. And, after almost four years of being a widower, was he prepared to let romance back into his life? A part of him said yes, the lonely part that ached to have someone to hold at night, that remembered the joy of loving a woman and wanted that again. But there was also the part that was afraid to love like that again for fear that he would lose her like he did Sha're.

"I don't know, Danny," Daniel finally said in answer to the boy's question. "I know that it would be much better for everyone if we weren't."

"Can you make the romantic feelings go away?"

Daniel sighed. "If they're real, then, no, you can't just make them go away. If you try to ignore them, in time, they may fade, but that can take a very long time. Sam and I are going to talk about all this tonight, and I hope that everything will be okay afterwards."

"I hope it will, too." 


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Sam arrived at a quarter after nine.

"Hi," Daniel greeted a little nervously. "He just got to sleep a little while ago."

Sam walked over to the bed and smiled down at Danny. "You know, I didn't say this before, but it's kind of cool seeing a living example of what you looked like as a child. You were really adorable." She turned around to see Daniel staring at the carpet, hands in his pockets. She couldn't ever remember seeing him this ill-at-ease.

Sam took a seat in a chair. After a moment, Daniel did likewise.

"I've . . . I've been thinking a lot about what happened . . . _almost_ happened," Daniel admitted, eyes still cast downward, forearms resting in his knees.

"Me too."

Daniel finally met her eyes. "Sam, I . . . I don't know what to say. I never expected anything like that to happen, not between us."

"I know, Daniel. It shocked me, too." This time, it was Sam's gaze that dropped. "I, um . . . I think I should admit that this isn't the first time I've felt something like this toward you."

Daniel blinked in surprise. "It isn't?"

"During those first few months, I-I had sort of a. . . . God, this is embarrassing."

"It's okay, Sam."

The major looked at him. "I had a crush on you."

Daniel's eyes widened. "A c-c-crush?"

"Oh, yeah. You were this sweet, brilliant, gorgeous guy who shared my passion for work and whom I thoroughly enjoyed working with. I felt a connection with you almost right away."

"So did I," Daniel told her.

"But you were married, so I fought with my feelings and finally got over them. After that, you were just a dear friend to me. That's the way it's been ever since."

Daniel stared down at his clasped hands. "I guess if this is confession time, I should confess that this isn't the first time for me, either."

"Really?"

"When you guys first found me on Vis Uban and I looked at you, I felt something. It was even stronger in the tent, when you talked to me."

"That's why you asked if there had ever been anything between us?"

Daniel nodded. "Once my memories began returning and I remembered Sha're, I never thought about it again."

The two friends lapsed into silence.

"The smartest thing to do would be to forget about this and move on," Sam said after several long seconds.

Daniel lifted his head. "You're right."

Sam looked into her friend's eyes. "Do you think you can do that?"

"I honestly don't know, Sam. I can try. That's all I can promise."

Sam nodded. "That really would be for the best."

"Yes. Yes, it would." If that were true, why was it that Daniel felt sad? Why was there a voice inside that was crying out in denial?

They both got to their feet.

"This will be okay," Sam declared. "In a few weeks, it'll be like it never happened."

The archeologist nodded again, unable to find his voice.

Sam took a step toward the door. "Um . . . okay. I'll . . . I'll say good night, then."

Daniel would never know what insanity took possession of him, but, as Sam moved past him, he took hold of her arm and pulled her against his body. His lips came down on hers an instant later. Sam gasped sharply, her body stiffening, and then she relaxed against him, her lips becoming soft and yielding. The tenuous emotions they had been feeling blossomed into something a whole lot more solid . . . and more powerful. The kiss was electric, a slow-burning fire that threatened to ignite into an inferno. Despite the danger, neither one of them wanted to stop. Daniel's arms wrapped around Sam's waist as hers entwined about his neck. Lips parted and tongues went in search of the secret depths within each other's mouths, drawing matching moans from Daniel's and Sam's throats. Mouths opened wider as the kiss deepened even more, tongues sliding wetly against each other, mating in a slow dance of growing passion.

Daniel and Sam had no idea how much time had passed before they separated. They were both trembling inside, hearts racing.

"I-I'm sorry," Daniel whispered, releasing her and backing up half a pace. "I shouldn't have done that. For the life of me, I don't know what the hell I was thinking."

Sam swallowed to moisten her dry throat. "No. It, um . . . it's okay. We've both been through a lot of emotional stuff lately, especially you." She took a deep breath. "I'm going to go now."

"Okay."

Sam nearly ran to her lab. Once there, she shut the door, something she almost never did.

_'Oh my God, oh my God!'_ her mind cried. _'Daniel and I just kissed! And, Holy Hannah, can that man ever kiss!'_ She was still shaking from the aftermath. She felt like the cells of her body were vibrating. She hadn't felt like that after a kiss since . . . since . . . since never!

Sam sat down hard on a chair. That should most definitely not have happened. When he started kissing her, she should have put a stop to it, gently pulled away and left.

Blowing up a sun was easier than that would have been.

This was really, really not good. It was a disaster on a galactic scale. Well, okay, maybe not a _galactic_ scale, but pretty damn big. What was it with her and mega-disasters in the romance department? First, she falls for Jonas Hanson, who turns out not to be the kind of man she thought he was. Then she gets a crush on Daniel, a married man. She no sooner gets beyond that when her heart goes pitter-patter over an alien who can't stay on Earth. After that, she inherits feelings for a Tok'ra, somebody she could never be with unless she became a Tok'ra as well. And then, stupidest of all, she develops a thing for her commanding officer. She might be smart in other ways, but, in the love department, she was a complete idiot.

And, now, she was feeling things for Daniel again, her best friend and teammate, a friend who had just given her a kiss that made her body feel like it was a nuclear reactor slowly building up to an overload.

What were they going to do? What was _she_ going to do? This couldn't possibly work out. There's no way that they could have a relationship. Not that a relationship with Daniel wouldn't be fantastic. They could be great together. They were certainly compatible. These years as friends and teammates had proven that. But it would change so many things, not the least of which would be the team dynamic. Though it wasn't technically against regulations for her and Daniel to be involved, they probably wouldn't be allowed to stay on the same team. The colonel wouldn't be happy. The general probably wouldn't either.

Sam's mind turned fully upon Jack. How _would_ he react to this? Sam knew that, at one time, he had feelings for her, but she really didn't know how he felt now. He had given no indication that he still felt that way in a very long time.

And how did _she_ feel about _him_? Oh, some of those old feelings were still there, but she'd known a long time ago that nothing could ever come of them. Thinking about it, she suddenly realized that her feelings for Jack had been a . . . a safe harbor. As long as she had those feelings for him, a man she could never have and, therefore, never lose in that way, then her heart couldn't get broken by somebody else.

But Daniel was not a safe harbor. He was a storm at sea that could sink her if she wasn't careful. No, the smartest, wisest thing they could do would be to put what happened in the past and get back to the way they were before, just good friends and teammates whose feelings for each other weren't complicated by deeper emotions.

* * *

For hours, Daniel lay in the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He'd tried to sleep, but it was useless. He couldn't stop thinking about what happened. It had been fantastic . . . and completely idiotic. He'd already mentally kicked himself a dozen times. Yet again, he'd let his emotions rule his brain and done something colossally stupid. Now, he didn't know what he was going to do. His brain was telling him that he needed to forget all about this and get things back on the old track with Sam. His heart was another matter. It wanted another kiss . . . and a whole lot more.

But that could not happen. He and Sam needed to back away from this, go back to just being friends. The emotions he'd felt when they kissed and the knowledge that he could totally lose himself in them had sent a warning screaming through his brain that this was a really bad idea. The problem was that really bad idea had felt so damn good, better than anything he'd felt in a very long time.

Daniel turned onto his stomach and buried his face in the pillow, hoping that, in the morning, he'd figure out how he was going to ignore these feelings and pretend he didn't want Sam as more than a friend.

* * *

It didn't take long for Danny to tell that something was wrong the next morning. Daniel was way too quiet and looked like something was bothering him. Danny didn't like seeing him like that.

"Did you and Sam talk last night?" he asked, thinking that maybe Sam was the problem.

"Yes, we did."

"Then what's the matter?"

Daniel sat with a deep sigh on the bed beside Danny. He rubbed his hands over his face. He was tired, having gotten no more than an hour or two of sleep. Worse than that, morning hadn't brought any solutions to the problem.

"I did something I really shouldn't have," he admitted.

"What?"

"I kissed her."

"On the mouth?"

"Oh, yeah."

"How come?"

Daniel looked at the boy. "Good question. Because, though my head was telling me I shouldn't, my heart was telling me I should, and I always had trouble listening to my head over my heart."

"Was it a bad kiss?" Danny asked innocently, thinking that maybe there could be both good and bad kisses.

"No. I almost wish it was. That would have made things so much easier. It was a really good kiss."

"Do you feel romantic love for Sam now?"

The innocent question gave Daniel pause. No, he didn't think that he was in love with Sam, but it wouldn't take much to make him fall for her. Another kiss, and he'd be a goner. It might not even take that much.

"Not . . . not yet, Danny, but I'm afraid that could happen."

"Have you ever loved somebody like that before?"

"Yes, I have. I had a wife, Danny, and I loved her very much, but she died."

Seeing the sadness in Daniel's eyes, Danny wrapped his arms around the man's waist, trying to give comfort. Daniel returned the hug, resting a cheek on the boy's head.

"I don't want you to be sad," Danny said. "Would you be happy if you didn't feel like that about Sam?"

"It's not really a case of being sad or happy, Danny. It's about what we should and shouldn't do and what would be better and easier for everyone. Loving Sam romantically is something that shouldn't happen and something that could cause all kinds of problems."

"Because you're on the same team."

"That's one of the reasons."

"Are there rules saying that you and Sam can't love each other like that?" Danny knew about rules. His mom and dad had rules about what he couldn't do, like trying to get up on top of a camel by himself.

"Uh . . . I don't think so," Daniel replied. "I'm not familiar with all the military's rules, but I don't think there are any that would forbid Sam and me getting together. If I was in the military, the answer would be yes, but I'm not. I really don't know for sure."

"If there aren't any rules, then why would it be so bad?"

Daniel sighed. "It's just so hard to explain, Danny."

Danny went silent. He thought about his mom and dad, how happy they looked sometimes when they kissed or held each other. Would Daniel and Sam look that happy if they were like his mom and dad?"

"If it wouldn't be a bad thing, and it was okay for you and Sam to love each other romantically, would it make you happy?"

Daniel thought about that question for a long time. When he replied, it was with the answer he knew in his heart was true. "Yes, it would. It would make me very happy."

"And Sam, too?"

"I don't know. I think that maybe she would be. I _hope_ that she would be." Daniel looked at his watch. "Come on. We should go get some breakfast."

Jack and Teal'c had breakfast with the two Daniels, but Sam never showed up, which upset Danny because he thought it hurt Daniel.

"Where's Sam?" he asked.

"Probably too busy with some project to eat," Jack replied. "She does that a lot."

"Oh."

"You want me to call her and drag her butt down here?"

"Just let her work, Jack," Daniel said a bit shortly, knowing that work wasn't really the reason for Sam not showing up. "She hasn't gotten much done lately because of everything that's been going on."

The colonel studied him intently. "What's bugging you this morning, Daniel? Those are almost the first words you've spoken since we sat down."

"I'm just tired, Jack. I didn't get very much sleep last night."

"Working most of the night? You're supposed to be on leave, you know."

The easiest thing would be to lie, but Daniel wouldn't do that in Danny's presence. "No, I was . . . thinking."

"Thinking? Another thing you do way too much of, as far as I'm concerned. Thinking about what?"

"About something that's private, Jack."

The sharp edge to Daniel's voice surprised the colonel. Okay, apparently, this was something Daniel didn't want to talk about.

"Okay. Sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

Daniel sighed. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, which were a little bloodshot. Jack hadn't noticed that before, being too focused on Danny. Now that he was really looking, he could see that Daniel did appear tired.

"Hey, how about if I take the munchkin today?" Jack asked. "The two of us can go up top, toss around a frisbee for a while, maybe do a little exploring in the woods." He looked at Danny. "How would you like me to teach you backwoods survival techniques, like how to make a shelter from tree branches, stuff like that?"

Danny nodded, thinking that sounded like fun. "Then Daniel can go take a nap."

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

"Jack, you must have work to do," Daniel said. "_I_ may be on leave, but you're not."

"Nothin' that can't wait till later or even till tomorrow, for that matter."

Daniel knew that he should say no, but he really was tired, and he had a headache, too. Some sleep would do him good.

"All right. I guess I could use a nap."

"Good." Jack turned to Teal'c. "You wanna join us? You could teach Danny how to track wild animals."

"I would be pleased to join you, O'Neill."

After finishing his breakfast, Daniel returned to his quarters. He hadn't taken a shower this morning because he woke up only a few minutes before Danny did and ended up getting into that conversation with him. He decided to take one now, hoping to ease the tightness in his neck muscles.

Daniel spent a long time under the hot spray. He came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and sat on the bed with a weary sigh. That's when his tiredness hit him full-force. He laid down, thinking that he'd close his eyes for just a moment before getting up to put on some clothes. That was the last thought he had before sleep took him.

* * *

Sam took the elevator down to Level 25. She wasn't sure that Daniel and Danny were there, but she wanted to check.

She'd been a coward this morning, not having the courage to face Daniel, and, now, she felt guilty. She was still afraid to face him, but she wanted to say good morning to Danny and to let Daniel know that she wasn't avoiding him because she was angry.

Sam knocked softly on the door of Daniel's quarters, but got no answer. Thinking that Daniel might be in the bathroom, she tried the doorknob and found it to be unlocked.

"Knock, knock," she said as she cracked the door open. "Is anybody he. . . . Ohhh . . . my."

The last two words were uttered in a breathy whisper as she got a look at what was on the bed. Daniel was sleeping on his stomach on top of the covers, his arms hugging a pillow, dressed in nothing but a little towel around his hips. One of his legs was hiked up, causing the towel to stretch tightly. That towel had slipped downward and was only just barely covering him. If he moved, it would very likely come untied and fall off.

Sam's brain was telling her that she should walk right back out and leave. She paid no attention to it. Closing the door, she took a step further in, letting her eyes drink in the sight of the sleeping man. It's not like she hadn't seen him half-naked before. There had been a couple of times when she caught him in just his boxers, which had always embarrassed him. And, yes, she'd noticed how well-built he was. But this was the first time she'd seen him quite this exposed, and it was the first time she'd seen anywhere near this much of his naked flesh since he descended.

Daniel had been working out a lot since returning, as if he was trying to make his human body as strong as it could be. And, oh boy, had it ever worked. His strong back and broad, muscular shoulders made Sam's temperature rise. She couldn't see his chest, but knew that it would be broad and well-defined. Sam's gaze traveled down the smooth, unblemished skin of his back to what the towel was hiding. She was checking out Daniel's butt. She was actually standing here, checking out her best friend's ass. And she really liked what she could see. She was sorely tempted to pull off that towel and get an eyeful of what was underneath.

Even as she thought that, Daniel shifted in his sleep, and the towel slipped lower, giving her a tantalizing glimpse of what she'd been thinking about. If he turned over right now. . . .

Sam's temperate had now risen to a fever. She had this irrational desire to strip off her clothes, march over to the bed, rip that damn towel off of Daniel and make half-crazed love with him.

It was that desire that made Sam realize she needed to get out of there right now. She turned and escaped the room, shutting the door with a trembling hand. She made her way to the nearest women's restroom and splashed cold water on her face.

Whoa. That had been . . . intense. She was no innocent and had experience sexual desire before, but seldom had it hit her that hard.

This was insane. A mere week and a half ago, Daniel was her friend and teammate, plain and simple. Now, he was a man that she was fantasizing about. Worse than that, he was a man she was experiencing emotions for that were even more dangerous than sexual attraction. If she wasn't really careful, she could fall head over heals in love with him. And wouldn't _that_ mess everything up royally.

Sam left the bathroom and returned to her lab, vowing that, one way or another, she was going to drive these thoughts about Daniel out of her head.

* * *

Jack, Danny and Teal'c were presently on the trail of a deer, which Teal'c had surmised was a buck. They crept through the forest, Danny doing a surprisingly good job of moving silently.

Teal'c abruptly held out a hand, halting the others. Making a motion to be silent, he inched forward, followed by Danny and Jack. They crouched behind some brush and looked out into a small clearing. The buck was there in the distance, its velvet-incased antlers bobbing slightly as it grazed. It lifted its head to peer in their direction for a few seconds, then returned to eating.

Jack looked down at the little boy and saw him staring at the deer in childish delight.

"In a few more months, that buck will probably have quite an impressive rack on him," he whispered close to the child's ear.

"Rack?" Danny inquired, also whispering.

"Antlers. The bucks lose their antlers in the winter, after the breeding season, then start growing them back in the spring. By fall, he'll have rubbed that fuzzy stuff off, and they'll be big and sharp. That's the difference between antlers and horns. Horns never fall off."

"The oryx have horns," Danny said. "Some people think that the legend of the unicorn came from them."

"Really?"

"Uh huh, because, when you look at them sideways, it looks like they have only one horn."

Jack smiled down at him. Just eight years old, and the kid was already becoming a fountain of information on mythology.

Something startled the buck, and it bounded away. The three observers rose to their feet.

"Wasn't that fun?" Jack asked.

Danny nodded, smiling.

They began retracing their steps.

"Uncle Jack?" Danny inquired.

"Hmm?"

"Are you, Daniel, Sam, and Teal'c allowed to love people romantically?"

Surprised by the question, Jack replied, "Sure. Of course we are."

"With each other?"

That made Jack come to a sudden halt. He stared down at Danny. "Why on Earth would you ask that?"

Danny's gaze went to the ground. "Can't tell you. It's a secret."

Jack's eyebrows rose. "A secret, huh? Well, to answer your question, Daniel, Sam, Teal'c and I are teammates, and, like with all military teams, there are rules about that sort of thing. Like, for instance, I'm not allowed to date pretty much anybody on base who is in the military."

"How come?"

"It has to do with a thing called chain of command. General Hammond is the boss of everyone on the base. Because we're all under his command, none of the military people on the base can date each other or get married with each other."

"Because he won't like it?"

"No, because it's the rules, ones that were made by other people."

"That's dumb."

Jack smiled slightly. "Well, the people had good reasons for making the rules."

"But what about people there who aren't in the military, like Daniel?"

"Ah, well, the rules are different for them. If Daniel or one of the other civilians wanted to date somebody on the base, there wouldn't be any rules to prevent it."

Danny smiled. "There wouldn't?"

"Nope. They could even date the military personnel, although there are some higher-ups who wouldn't be crazy about it. So, why are you asking this." Jack grinned. "You trying to find a girl for Daniel? Good luck if you are."

Danny was looking at the ground again. "I can't tell you."

"Oh. That's right. You said it was a secret."

The boy nodded.

"Okay."

They resumed walking. About a minute had passed when Danny spoke again.

"If somebody thinks they shouldn't do something, but somebody else thinks they should and that it will make the other somebody happy, what should they do?"

Jack's curiosity went up another notch. "Hmm. That's a really tough question, Danny. I guess it all depends on what you're talking about. Usually, it's best just to let the other person make their own decision."

"But what if it doesn't make them happy?"

The colonel looked down at the little boy. "Danny, sometimes, we have to make decisions that don't make us happy because it's the best thing to do."

Danny was frowning, clearly not pleased with the answer.

Jack chucked him under the chin. "Come on. No more talk like that. Let's go find some bugs we can eat."

"Ewww!" Danny exclaimed.

* * *

When Daniel awoke after a four-hour nap, he found the towel halfway off and not doing a whole lot to cover him. Thankful that Jack hadn't brought Danny back to the room, he got dressed.

Daniel was in the commissary with lunch and a cup of coffee when Jack, Teal'c and Danny came in. Seeing him, they went straight to his table.

"Hey, look who's awake," Jack said. "You're looking better, not so ragged around the edges. I'm guessing you got some sleep."

"Yes, I did. So, did you guys have fun frolicking in the woods?"

"I do not frolic," Teal'c replied haughtily.

"Neither do colonels," Jack added.

"Sorry," Daniel apologized.

"But, yes, we did have fun. We'd still be out there if Danny hadn't gotten hungry. He didn't want to eat the bugs."

Daniel's eyebrows rose. "Bugs?"

"Uncle Jack said that if you're lost in the woods and have no food, you can eat bugs to keep you alive." Danny made a face. "I'd rather have waffles."

"Waffles definitely do sound better than bugs," Daniel agreed.

Daniel's teammates and the boy got their lunch and sat at the table with him.

"Still no Carter?" Jack asked.

"She may have already eaten," Daniel replied. The question had dimmed his mood. He knew that Sam was avoiding him because of what happened, and it hurt. They'd always been so close, and, now, he felt like that was being ruined by his stupidity.

The archeologist resumed eating with an effort, listening to Danny talk about tracking a deer and the other things he had done with Jack and Teal'c.

"Hey. Is this seat taken?"

Daniel's head shot up from the contemplation of his food. Sam was standing beside the table, holding a tray. For a moment, their eyes met.

"Nope. It's all yours, Carter," Jack replied. "I was beginning to think we weren't going to see you today."

"Sorry, sir." Sam took a seat on the other side of Danny, which positioned the boy between her and Daniel.

"You weren't at breakfast," Danny said disapprovingly.

"I know. I was busy with things. I'm sorry. I'll try not to miss breakfast tomorrow." She glanced at Daniel, then began eating her lunch.

"Why don't you tell Sam what you did today?" Jack suggested to Danny.

The boy eagerly launched into a repeat of the day's adventures.

"Bugs? He wanted you to eat bugs?" Sam said. "Gross."

"Uh huh. Then he pretended to eat one."

"Pretended!" Jack exclaimed. "Who says I was pretending?"

"You were too pretending!" Danny insisted. "You had the bug hiding in your hand."

The colonel stared at the boy. "Just like Daniel. I can't slip anything by him." He sighed theatrically. "Okay, so I was pretending."

Danny smiled smugly and went back to his food. He started making a circle with his French fries. Then he made another circle inside the first.

"What's that?" Sam asked him.

"A Stargate."

Every adult at the table stiffened and looked at each other.

"Where did you hear about the Stargate, Danny?" Daniel asked, keeping his voice level.

The boy shrugged. "I don't know. From someplace. What is a Stargate?"

Every one of Daniel's teammates looked to him to answer the question.

"It's . . . it's something that was found on the Giza Plateau back in 1928," he replied truthfully.

"Why is it called that?"

"Uh, because it's a gate, and it has pictures of star constellations on it." Okay, so that was only partially a lie. It was a gate and it did have star constellations on it. That just wasn't the reason why was called a Stargate.

"Like the Big Dipper and Little Dipper?"

"Actually, those are only parts of the constellations of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor," Sam corrected, hoping to distract the boy from his questions about the Stargate. "Maybe we can go outside tonight, and I can tell you the names of the different constellations."

Danny smiled. "That would be fun."

Danny's knowledge of the Stargate succeeded in completely taking Daniel's mind off the issue between him and Sam. He was positive that the boy had gained that knowledge from his mind.

With a sinking heart, Daniel realized something else. They no longer had the option of waiting to tell Danny about the program and the truth about himself. Regardless of whether or not he was ready, he would have to be told now. 


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

That evening, as Sam took the boy up onto the mountaintop to stargaze, Daniel discussed the situation with his other two teammates in the VIP room.

"Maybe he heard somebody talking about the gate," Jack suggested hopefully.

"Oh, come on, Jack. You know that's not it. He knows that the Stargate is round. He couldn't know that unless he saw it or somebody told him."

Jack sighed. "Okay, you're right. The little squirt is reading your mind."

"I was hoping that I was wrong. There hadn't been any other incidents after those first two."

"What do you intend to do, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c inquired.

"We're going to have to tell him about the program. Sooner or later, he's going to pull something else from my thoughts about a mission or the Goa'uld. We knew that we'd probably have to tell him eventually."

"And what about what he is?" Jack asked.

Daniel got to his feet. "I was hoping that I'd have a few more days, give him more time to heal. He had another nightmare last night. It wasn't nearly as bad, and I was able to quiet him, but. . . ."

"Daniel, chances are that Danny's going to keep having at least some nightmares for months."

"Yeah, I know." Daniel retook his seat on the bed. "When I see him laughing and smiling, I want to think that he's fine, but I know that's not true. He's definitely better, a _lot_ better, but I'm afraid that something will happen to set him back, like that flashback did for a while."

"You can't keep babying him, Daniel," Jack told him. "You can't keep sheltering him from everything."

Daniel drew in a deep breath. "No, I can't. All right. If we get the general's permission, I'll tell Danny everything tomorrow."

When Sam came into the room with Danny a while later, Daniel was alone. The major could tell from the look in his eyes that something was wrong.

Danny was half-asleep, it being past his bed time, and the two adults got him ready for bed and tucked in. Daniel gazed down at him with a sad look.

"Daniel, what's wrong?" Sam asked.

"I'm going to tell him tomorrow, Sam. Everything."

"What?" Sam sat down. "Why?"

Daniel gave her a rundown of his conversation with Jack and Teal'c. "I can't put it off any longer. The danger is too great that he's going to pick up something from my mind that I can't explain away. In the morning, I need to tell General Hammond what's going on. I guess Janet should know, too."

"We'll help you tell him, Daniel," Sam said earnestly. "We can help explain the whole thing."

"No, this is something I have to do alone, Sam, at least when I tell him what he is. I need to . . . I need to make him understand that he's no less a person, that he's real, and special, and . . . and unique. And that we love him regardless of what he is."

Sam's hand rested on his. "You'll do fine, Daniel. I know you will. Everything will be okay."

The archeologist looked into Sam's eyes. "Are _we_ going to be okay?"

The major's hand slipped away from his, which sent a little spear of pain through Daniel's heart.

"Yes, Daniel, we're going to be fine," Sam told him.

"Are you sure? I'm sorry, Sam. I'm sorry that I did it." Daniel's gaze dropped to his hands. "I know that you've been avoiding me because of it."

"No," Sam instantly denied. Then she paused. "Okay, I was for a while. I did come to see you and Danny late this morning, but . . . I knocked, and nobody answered." Okay, that was true. She did knock.

"I was taking a nap, didn't get much sleep last night."

Sam leaned forward in her chair. "Daniel, you weren't the only participant in what happened last night. I kissed you, too. You certainly didn't force me. I could have stopped it at any time. So, please don't apologize." Deciding to be brave for Daniel's sake, she smiled. "Besides, I enjoyed it."

Surprised blue eyes met hers. "You did?"

"You're kidding, right? Of _course_ I enjoyed it. You are one hell of a kisser, Doctor Jackson."

Daniel blushed brightly. Then he smiled. "So are you."

Sam returned the smile, her cheeks coloring faintly. "Thank you."

They both became serious again.

"So, what do we do now?" Daniel asked. "Follow our original plan of forgetting all about this and going on like nothing happened?"

"That's what we _should_ do."

Daniel sighed. "Yes, I guess it is." Why did he have to feel so sad about doing what was right?

Feeling terribly sad all of a sudden, Sam got to her feet. "Everything will work out, Daniel."

Daniel couldn't even muster up a nod. "Good night, Sam."

Sam wished him back a good night, then left. She went to the locker room and changed into her civvies. A while later, she was at home, eating chocolate ice cream in front of the TV, not even paying attention to what was on. She finally turned the TV off and put the bowl down. Moments later, a single tear slipped down her cheek, a tear for what she knew she wanted but could not have.

* * *

The meeting with Hammond and Janet took place at eight a.m. Jack was there with Daniel. Sam and Teal'c were watching Danny.

"You told me that you have some news about Danny, Doctor Jackson," the general said.

"Yes, sir. Several days ago, something happened that led me to believe that Danny and I, uh, share a kind of psychic connection."

"What?" Janet said, shocked.

"Please explain," Hammond requested, also surprised.

Daniel told them about the incidents with the drawing of the Goa'uld and sensing when Danny was startled.

"Daniel, I agree that those incidents were puzzling," Janet said, "but there could be other explanations."

"I know that I had no hard evidence, which is why I didn't say anything to the two of you," Daniel said. "But, now, there can be no doubt of it." He told them about what happened at lunch yesterday. "There is no way that he could know about the Stargate other than that he got it from my mind."

Hammond and Janet were both silent for a few seconds. The doctor was the one who spoke first.

"There have been studies that appear to prove a psychic connection between some identical twins. Given that, such a connection between clones is feasible."

Daniel nodded, recalling that he'd said the same thing to his teammates. He turned to Hammond. "Sir, because of this, I think that I need to tell Danny right away about the program and about what he is."

"Daniel, telling him about the program is one thing," Janet responded, "but I'm not sure that he's ready yet for the shock of knowing who he is."

"And what if he finds out from a stray thought of mine? I think about it a lot, Janet. We're lucky it hasn't happened already. I don't want to do it so soon either, but I think we have no choice."

The doctor sighed. "I suppose you're right."

Daniel turned back to Hammond. "Sir, we knew that Danny would have to know about the program eventually. If we didn't tell him, we'd have had to make up a story about him being cloned here on Earth, and that's no longer an option. He's already gotten an image of a Goa'uld and the Stargate from my mind. What's next?"

The general nodded. "You're right, Doctor Jackson. All right, you have my permission to tell Danny as much as you need to. Obviously, details about missions cannot be revealed, although you will have to tell him about Cedarna."

"Yes, sir."

As Daniel and Jack waited for the elevator after the meeting was over, the colonel put a hand on his friend's shoulder. He felt the tension in the muscles.

"It'll be okay, Daniel," he said. "We're talking about a little version of you here. If he's got half the toughness you do, he'll be fine."

When Daniel and Jack walked into Daniel's quarters, Sam and Teal'c met the archeologist's eyes. He gave them a slight nod. They both got to her feet.

"Daniel?" Sam inquired, asking with that one word if he was sure he didn't want any of them to stay.

"I'll see you later, Sam," he responded. "Thanks."

"Call us if you need us," Jack said.

The door closed quietly. Daniel went up to the bed, where Danny was drawing, and sat down.

"Danny, there's something we need to talk about."

The boy looked up at him. "Is it about Sam?"

"No, it's not about Sam." Daniel took the drawing things and set them aside. "It's about this place. I told you that it was a military base, but I didn't tell you what we do here. There's something I want to show you."

Daniel fetched his laptop and logged onto the off-world photo archive on the base's server. He brought up a particular photo.

"That is a Stargate, Danny."

The boy gazed at the gigantic ring. "That's cool."

"Yes, it is." Daniel set the laptop on the night stand. "Danny, when I said that the Stargate is a gate, it was the truth, but it isn't any ordinary gate, it's a gate that goes to other planets."

Danny's eyes widened hugely. "It is?"

"Yes. That picture on the screen, it was taken on another planet. There are thousands and thousands of Stargates all over the galaxy, and in other galaxies, too. We travel to those planets through the gate we have here."

"Wow," Danny said in awe. "Do _you_ go to other planets?"

"Yes, I do. I've been to so many that it would take a long time for me to count them all."

"Wow," Danny said again, which made Daniel smile a little. The smile faded as he thought of what he had to tell the boy next.

"Danny, there's something else I have to tell you. But, before I do, I want you to really understand that I love you, that Sam, Jack, Teal'c, General Hammond, Janet and a lot of other people here love you. You do know that, right?"

Danny nodded, wondering what this was about.

"A while ago, we went to a planet called Cedarna. We found out that, because of a bad chemical in the water, the people living there couldn't have very many babies. Their population was getting smaller and smaller because there weren't enough children to take the place of the people who died from old age, illness and accidents. We then found out that they had a machine that they were using to try to help them. Do you know what a clone is?"

Danny shook his head.

"Well, you see there is something inside each person that's called DNA. The DNA has all the information about that person's body, such as what they look like. No two people have the same DNA, except in the case of identical twins. You know what that is, right?"

"Uh huh. They're brothers or sisters that look just like each other."

"That's right, because they have the same DNA. There is a special way that DNA can be used. You can take a little bit of a person, like some of their skin or blood, and, with the DNA in it, you can make a duplicate of that person, a copy."

Danny's eyes widened again. "You can?"

"Yes. That duplicate, which is called a clone, will physically be everything that the original person is, the same eyes, the same ears, the same everything. And, if you give that clone the original person's memories, it'll be as if they're exactly like that person. You wouldn't be able to tell them apart."

Daniel braced himself for the next words. "On Cedarna, the people were making clones. Those clones were made to grow up really fast, but they weren't growing up all the way. They were still children when the Cedarnans took them out of the cloning machine. What we didn't know is that the Cedarnans used some of my blood to make a clone of me." He met the boy's eyes. "Danny, that clone is you."

Danny went utterly silent, eyes wide. "I-I'm a copy of you?" he finally said.

"You're a clone of me, Danny," Daniel corrected, not liking the word 'copy'. "All these memories you have of your mom and dad, of the places you've seen, the things you've done, they're _my_ memories of my childhood. My mom and dad were Claire and Melburn Jackson, who died thirty years ago when I was eight years old."

Tears started filling Danny's eyes, and his respiration increased. "I-I-I'm not really me?"

Daniel grabbed the boy's hands. "Yes, you are, Danny. You're really you. You are Daniel Jackson, just like I am. You are a real person, as real me. It's just that all those memories you have of before you woke up here are not really yours."

Danny began crying in earnest. "But I remember Mommy holding me and Daddy kissing me. Mommy sung me lullabies in all different languages, and Daddy taught me chess, and-and-and they taught me all about Egypt, and the pharaohs, and the Egyptian g-gods. They were my mommy and daddy, _my_ mommy and daddy, not yours!"

Daniel closed his eyes tightly, feeling sick. Danny was sobbing, wrapped in a self-hug. Oh, God. This was even worse than he'd feared. He had to do something or he might lose Danny forever.

Daniel gathered the boy in his arms and laid down on the bed with him. "Danny, listen to me. You remember how I said that a clone was like the person they were made from? Physically, that clone _is_ that person. They're the same. Yes, Claire and Melburn _were_ your parents, just like they were mine. A part of Mom and a part of Dad were used to create me, and, because you are me, in a way, those parts were used to create you, too." Daniel lifted Danny's tear-washed eyes to his. "You are me, Danny, and they were _our_ mom and dad."

Danny was still crying, but he was no longer sobbing. Daniel held onto him in silence, praying that he'd gotten through to the boy.

The minutes ticked by as Danny slowly grew silent. Daniel kept hold of him, waiting for some sign from the child in his arms.

It was a full ten minutes before Danny stirred. He sniffled loudly.

"Danny?" Daniel inquired hesitantly.

"T-they were still my mom and dad?" the boy whispered tremulously.

"Yes, they were. Because you're me, they were your parents, too."

"But I was made by a machine." The statement was spoken in a stronger voice.

Daniel realized how awful that sounded. "Well, sort of. The machine took my DNA and caused you to grow from it, but it didn't put you together piece by piece or anything like that. You grew and developed inside the machine sort of like a baby grows and develops inside his mom's tummy."

"I was never in Mom's tummy." That was spoken sadly.

Daniel didn't know what he could say to that, so he said the only thing he could think of saying. "Danny, you need to believe me when I say that you being a clone doesn't make a difference to us in how much we love you. It doesn't matter that you grew inside a machine instead of a mother's tummy. We love you regardless. And . . . and if Mom and Dad were alive today, I _know_ that they would love you, too."

"They would?"

"Absolutely. Do you believe me?"

Danny nodded. "Will I grow up to be just like you?"

"You'll grow up to _look_ just like me, and you may be a lot like me in other ways, but, no, you won't be just like me in every way."

"Why not?"

"Because you'll have a different life than what I did, different experiences. That will change how you feel about some things and how you act. You'll develop different like and dislikes. Some things that I love, you may hate, and the other way around. You'll learn different things in school. You'll have different memories; you already do. All the things you remember happening since we brought you here are different from what happened to me after Mom and Dad died. Remember what I said to you about my life after they died, how I didn't have anybody to love me?"

Danny nodded.

"Well, that was true. I was all alone. I was sent to live with people I didn't know. They took care of me for a while, then someone else took over from them. But that's not the life you're going to have, and it will make a difference in who you grow up to be."

"What about Grandpa Nick? Why didn't he take care of you?"

Daniel sighed. "Nick was busy going all over the world, and he didn't have time to take care of a little boy."

Danny thought about that. "I only remember seeing him three times. He made me call him Nick instead of Grandpa. Mom said it was because being called Grandpa made him feel old."

Daniel nodded. "I remember that. Mom said that it was okay to call him Grandpa when he couldn't hear me."

Danny lifted his head and looked up at him. "You remember everything I do?"

"About the accident and everything that happened before? Not all of it. It's been a long time for me, Danny, so I've forgotten things."

"Can I tell you things you forgot?" Danny asked hesitantly.

Daniel smiled at him. "Sure. I'd like that."

Danny's gaze dropped to a button on Daniel's BDU shirt. "Mom and Dad really died a whole thirty years ago?"

"Almost. The anniversary is coming up in a few months."

"Did they get buried in a cemetery?"

"Yes, they did. Their graves are in New York. Maybe, someday, I can take you there."

"We're not in New York?"

"Oh. No, I forgot to tell you. We're in Colorado."

There was a brief moment of silence. "Were you really sad when Mom and Dad died?"

Daniel drew the boy closer. "Yes, I was very sad."

Danny looked at him. "Are you still sad?"

"Sometimes. I sometimes wish that they were here, that they could see me now, know what I've done with my life. They would be so excited about the Stargate. They'd have wanted to go to those other worlds, explore the ruins I've seen, meet some of the cultures I have. The first time I went through the Stargate, I decided to stay with the people we met. I was with them for over a year, Earth time. That's where I met my wife. I found a chamber there, an archeological wonder that any archeologist would do anything to explore. When I found it, I thought about Mom and Dad, the look that would have been in their eyes if they could have seen it. I wished that they were there with me."

Danny saw the sadness in Daniel's eyes. He wrapped his arms around the man's waist. "Don't be sad, Daniel."

Daniel pulled the boy tight against him, pressing a kiss on the golden hair. He sat up with the boy.

"Are you feeling better?"

Danny nodded, though it was a subdued nod.

"Do you have any other questions?"

The boy thought for a while. "The people that made me did it because they wanted more kids?"

"Yes."

"But you took me."

"Yes, because I knew it was better if I took care of you. But don't worry about the Cedarnans, Danny. We found a way to help them so that they can have more children."

"That's good." There was a pause. "Are there other clones?"

Daniel wondered if he should tell Danny about Jack's clone. Probably not, at least not yet. "Um, there's only one other clone here on Earth, but there are probably quite a few on Cedarna and on other planets." Daniel looked into the boy's eyes. "You are a special and unique person, Danny. You may have been made from me, but that's just this stuff." He gently poked the boy's arm. He then brushed a finger over Danny's forehead. "What you are inside there," he placed a fingertip over the child's chest, "and in your heart isn't exactly like anyone else in the universe."

Danny had a few more questions about the whole thing, which Daniel answered as well as he could. Now that the initial shock and trauma were past, the boy appeared to be adjusting well to the truth of his identity, though Daniel was not going to make the mistake of assuming that everything would be fine from now on.

"Can you tell me more about the Stargate?" Danny asked after a while, which pleased Daniel. His curiosity about other things was a good sign.

"Well, I can tell you some things, but not everything." Daniel looked down at him. "Danny, the Stargate is a secret. Most people on Earth don't know about it, and they don't know that we can travel to other planets or that there are people on those planets. It's okay to talk about those things here, but not in other places where there are people, like when I take you into town." Daniel looked straight into the boy's eyes. "It is very, very important that you keep this secret."

Danny saw the intensity in Daniel's look. "What would happen if I didn't?"

"Well, most people would probably think you were just making it up, but if somebody didn't, it could cause a whole lot of trouble, for me and everybody else here, and also for the president."

"Of the United States?"

"Yes. If the whole world found out, a lot of people could get scared."

"Why?" Danny asked.

"Because there are dangerous things out in the galaxy. People here don't know about them, so they're not afraid of them. But, if they knew, it could scare them."

"What kinds of dangerous things?"

"We can talk about that later. So, do you swear not to tell anyone."

Danny gave him a nod. "I won't tell anybody. I promise."

Daniel gave the boy a quick hug. "Would you like me to call Sam, Jack and Teal'c and ask them to come here or would you like to just be here alone with me for a while?"

"They can come."

It turned out that Daniel's teammates were all in Sam's lab, hoping he would call them. They were on their way to Daniel's quarters as soon as the archeologist told them they could come.

Sam knelt by the bed before Danny. She smiled gently up into his eyes and brushed her hand through his hair.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Danny gave her a nod. She rose up a little and pulled him into a tight hug. "I love you, Danny."

The boy wrapped his arms around her neck. "I love you, too."

There were tears sparkling in Sam's eyes as she drew back.

Danny looked up at Jack. "I'm a clone, Uncle Jack."

The colonel came forward and sat on the bed, putting a gentle arm around the child. "I know, Danny. But, hey, some of our best friends are clones."

"They are?"

"Yep. You see, there are these little grey aliens called the Asgard, who have great big heads and great big eyes, but little teeny tiny behinds. They don't make babies like we do, so they clone themselves instead. Every one of them is a clone, and they're some of our very best friends. They've helped us lots of times when we needed it."

"Really? That's cool."

"Uh huh. You're gonna love Thor when you meet him."

"Thor? That's the Norse god of thunder."

"That's right," Daniel responded. "You see, for many thousands of years, aliens visited Earth, and some of them pretended to be the gods from our mythology."

Danny's eyes widened in excitement. "The Egyptian gods, too?"

The eyes of the four adults met.

"Um, yes, the Egyptian gods, too," Daniel replied.

"You mean like Isis, and Ra, and Horus, and all the others?"

"Maybe not all of them, but quite a few, as well as gods from a lot of other mythologies."

"Wow."

"Oh, yeah. It's pretty exciting, all right," Jack said, trying to keep his sarcasm in check.

"So, there are lots of different aliens?"

"Yes, there are," Sam replied. "We've seen and met many different ones. Some, like the Asgard, have become our friends."

"I'd like to meet an alien."

Daniel, Sam and Jack all looked at Teal'c. The Jaffa nodded his head in assent, knowing what they were asking.

"Well, Danny, as it turns out, you already have," Jack told the boy.

"I have?"

"Uh huh, right there." The colonel pointed at Teal'c.

Danny's eyes got huge. "You're an alien?"

"Indeed I am, young Daniel Jackson. I come from a world called Chulak."

This time, Danny was so wowed that he couldn't even say the word.

"Would you like to see the Stargate?" Daniel asked.

The boy's head nodded so fast that it looked in danger of bobbing right off his neck.

SG-1 took Danny down to Level 28. As the blast door opened and the boy got his first look at the Stargate, his mouth dropped open. Wide eyes filled with wonder, he walked up to the ramp with his adult companions.

"How does it work?" he asked.

Three heads turned to Sam, handing that explanation over to her.

"Remember, Carter. He may be Daniel, but he's still only eight," Jack said. "Try not to make his head explode."

"I'll try not to, sir."

Sam gave Danny a very simple explanation of how the Stargate could take people to other planets. The boy asked dozens of questions that the major tried her best to answer in a way he'd understand.

"Can you turn it on?" Danny asked after the explanations were finished.

"Well, it costs a lot of money every time we turn it on, so we usually don't do it unless we have a good reason," Sam replied. "But we're going to be going on another mission day after tomorrow, and I bet that General Hammond wouldn't mind if you watched."

Concerned about the sound causing another flashback, Daniel said. "It's a really loud sound, Danny, so you might have to plug your ears."

For the rest of the day, Danny peppered SG-1 with questions about the Stargate, the planets they'd been to, and the people and aliens they'd met. Though they did tell Danny about the Goa'uld, they sugar-coated it a lot so that the boy wouldn't be frightened. He was fascinated by the news that aliens had taken people from the ancient civilizations of Earth to populate other planets.

Danny finally conked out at around nine o'clock, and Daniel put him to bed.

"Well, he seems to be handling the news pretty well," Jack said.

Daniel sat on the edge of the bed. "He didn't at first, Jack. God, I think that was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, to tell him that and then watch him start falling apart right in front of my eyes." He told them what happened. "I was so focused on the clone aspect, on being concerned that he'd think he was a freak or not a real person that I didn't even consider that what would upset him most was that I seemed to be telling him that his parents weren't really his. And I should have realized that, approached things differently."

Sam sat beside him and rubbed his arm. "Daniel, you can't be expected to think of everything. What matters is that he's doing okay now."

"Like I said, he's a tough kid," Jack reiterated.

"Now that young Daniel Jackson knows the truth, will you be taking him to your home?" Teal'c asked.

"I suppose so, although I'll need to start hunting for a new place soon. I guess Danny should have a say in where we move since it'll be his house, too."

"Three bedrooms," Jack said.

Daniel looked at him. "Why three?"

"Because you should have a guest room, and if you ever need someone to watch Danny overnight, there's the option of them watching him at your place instead of taking him to theirs."

"Good point."

"Are you going to rent again?" Sam asked.

"You should buy," Jack stated. "Now that you've got a child, you need permanence. If you buy, you won't have to worry about having to move because the landlord hiked up the rent or something like that."

Daniel considered Jack's words. When he returned to human form and went looking for a place to live, he could have purchased a house instead of renting. He had a good income and plenty enough in the bank for a sizable down payment. But he'd chosen to rent instead, the uncertainty of his life making him hesitant to make that kind of investment. But having Danny did make everything different.

Daniel glanced at Sam, thinking about what it would be like if the house was being shared with her, if they had children together, little brothers and sisters for. . . . Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell was he doing? He and Sam share a kiss, and, now, he's thinking about having kids with her?

Daniel was getting scared. This was getting out of control. He had to stop this, stop thinking about Sam like that. They couldn't be together. That's all there was to it. She was his friend and teammate, and that's all she'd ever be.

A touch on his arm broke through Daniel's thoughts.

"Hey. Where'd you go?" Sam asked, smiling.

"What? Oh. Sorry. I was just thinking about everything."

"Well, you do have a lot to think about," Jack responded. Once again, Daniel's life was going through major changes. "Becoming an instant father wouldn't be easy for anyone."

"We'll be going on the mission to Cedarna day after tomorrow," the archeologist said. "I'll wait until after that to take Danny home."

Daniel knew that the day he took Danny home would be another big step on the new path that his life had taken. Only time would tell what things lay ahead on that path. 


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

As the team went with Danny to breakfast the next day, the boy kept looking around at everyone. It didn't stop after they sat down with their food.

Finally, Danny leaned in close to Daniel and whispered. "Does everybody here know I'm a clone?"

"Yes, they do."

"Is that why they looked at me kind of weird when I first came here?"

The rest of Daniel's team turned to the boy, having heard the comment.

"What do you mean by weird?" Daniel asked, though he had a suspicion that he already knew the answer.

"Some people stared at me, and I saw other people whisper to each other when we passed by."

Jack frowned. He'd noticed some of the stares the first time they'd taken Danny out 'into public' on base but hadn't seen the whispered conversations.

Daniel was struggling to find an answer that wouldn't make Danny feel self-conscious. "Um, I guess they were kind of curious about you at first. Most of the people here have never met a human clone before."

Apparently satisfied by the answer, Danny began to eat his breakfast. After the meal, Daniel took Danny topside, where they read and did a little schoolwork. It was just before lunch when he told Danny about the telepathic link. The boy thought it was very cool and tried to read Daniel's mind. He didn't succeed, which disappointed him tremendously. Daniel figured that they would probably never reach the point where they could consciously read each other's thoughts, which was a very good thing. Having an eight-year-old inside his head could be . . . awkward, especially when Daniel was thinking about Sam, which he seemed incapable of preventing himself from doing.

The two of them spent part of the afternoon in Sam's lab. Now that the boy knew about the Stargate Program, Sam was able to tell him what some of the devices in the lab really did. Danny soaked it all in like a sponge, asking tons of questions.

"You know, Colonel O'Neill may be right," Sam remarked as she and Daniel watched Danny study one of the devices.

"Right about what?" Daniel asked.

"When he said that Danny would be able to do both of our jobs when he grew up and came to work here."

"I kind of doubt it, Sam. I never had much of a head for math or science."

Sam looked at him. "Was that because you really didn't have the skill or simply because you didn't have the interest?"

Daniel thought about it. "I . . . don't really know. Those weren't the things that interested me in school, except how they applied to archeology and languages. I mean, I did okay in the subjects, but they weren't where my strengths lie."

"It sounds to me like, if you'd had a real interest in them, you would have done a whole lot better."

Daniel shrugged. "That may be. My passion was archeology, anthropology and linguistic, and that's where I applied myself the most."

"I can understand that. Though I did all right with English and history in school, I spent a whole lot less time on them than I did on math and the various sciences."

Danny came up to them.

"So, does all that science stuff interest you?" Daniel asked curiously.

"Uh huh. It didn't used to. Mom and Dad taught me some stuff, but I wanted to learn about history, and archeology, and languages instead." Danny looked at Sam. "But you make the science stuff sound really cool."

Sam's face lit with a brilliant smile. "Thank you, Danny. That's a really nice thing to say."

"But I still want to be an archeologist when I grow up, like Mom, and Dad, and Daniel."

Sam ruffled his hair. "I'm sure you will be," she glanced at Daniel, "and maybe a lot more."

That night, as Danny was getting ready for bed, he asked about the mission Daniel was going on in the morning.

"Where are you going?"

Since they were going back to Cedarna, a world Danny already knew about, Hammond probably wouldn't have an issue with Daniel telling the boy that's where they were going, but the archeologist decided that it would be best to let Danny know right from the start that he couldn't divulge information about missions.

"Um, I'm not really allowed to talk about our missions, Danny."

"Why not?"

"Well, because information about what we see and do out there is classified. You know what that is, right?"

Danny nodded. "It means that it's top secret."

"That's right. Because it's classified, only people who have clearance can be told. That's people who have been given special permission to know those things."

Danny frowned. "And I don't have clearance."

"Not for information on missions, but General Hammond gave you clearance to know about the Stargate Program and things like the Goa'uld and some of the other aliens. Very few people in the world know about those things, so it's a pretty special privilege to be given clearance for that."

That cheered Danny up. "How long will you be gone?"

"Not long, a few hours at the most."

"I wish I could go with you."

"Unfortunately, the people in charge of this place wouldn't allow that," Daniel told him.

"You mean Uncle General George?"

"Actually, if we knew that the mission was completely safe, he might let you go, if he had permission from his bosses."

"When I'm all grown up, can I go?"

"If you decide to come work here, then, yes, I'm sure you could go through the gate."

"I want to come work here," Danny stated. "It would be fun, and I would get to work with you, like Mom and Dad sometimes let me dig for artifacts with them."

"I'd like that, too. But, before you can do that, you'll need to go to school and learn lots of things, like I did."

"Can't you and Sam teach me?"

"We can teach you some things, but you really need to go to school, Danny."

"The other kids won't know I'm a clone, will they?"

"No, they won't know, and you have to keep it a secret from them. Actually, this is something we have to talk about. Come sit on the bed."

Danny took a seat beside the archeologist.

"Since nobody knows that you're a clone, we're going to have to make up a story about who you are. Because you look like me, we're going to say that I'm your father. I know that isn't the truth, but people can't know the truth."

Danny frowned. "Mom and Dad taught me not to lie."

"I know, and, normally, that's a good thing, but, sometimes, people have no choice but to lie because the truth can't be told. That's especially true when you're talking about top secret things, like what you are."

"I'm top secret?" asked Danny, smiling in delight.

Daniel smiled back. "You sure are, which means that we have to keep your true identity a secret."

"Like Clark Kent has to hide that he's really Superman?"

"Yes, just like that."

"Cool."

The archeologist resumed explaining things. "Okay, so we're going to say that I'm your father, but you only just started living with me. You were living with your mom before because she and I got divorced when you were little. Do you know what divorced means?"

"Uh huh. It's when a mom and dad don't want to live together anymore. Lisa Hartford's parents were divorced."

Daniel vaguely recalled the blonde girl he'd met in the private school. "Right. Okay, so, when you were really small, your mom and I got divorced, and you lived with her. But, now, you're living with me because, um . . . because she died."

Danny's eyes clouded up, and his gaze fell. Daniel put an arm around him and drew him close. The boy appeared to be battling his tears, trying very hard not to cry.

"Danny, what is it? You don't have to hide that you're sad."

"I didn't know if it was still okay to cry," Danny admitted very quietly.

"Why would it not be okay for you to cry?"

"Because what I remember didn't really happen to me and because Mom and Dad really died a long, long time ago."

"Danny, what you're remembering about Mom and Dad may be my memories, but that doesn't make what you feel any less real. It's okay to miss them and be sad that they're gone. And it's okay to cry."

Danny cried for a little while, then dried his tears. Daniel got him into the bed, deciding that they could talk some more about their 'cover story' tomorrow.

"Love you," he said, smiling down at the boy.

"Love you, too," Danny responded before slipping into sleep.

* * *

SG-1 and General Hammond stood in the control room. Beside Daniel was Danny, who was watching the Stargate with eager anticipation. He was standing on top of a step stool so that he could see over the computers and down into the gate room.

They had only just received permission this morning to offer sperm from the sperm banks to the Cedarnans, if they wanted it. Daniel had been concerned that the request would be refused, but Hammond pushed it through by hinting that the Cedarnans might not want to part with any of their technology if that happened.

The archeologist bent over and met Danny's eyes. "Okay, now, like I said before, turning on the Stargate is pretty loud. There will be lots of clunks and bangs while it's dialing up, and then a really loud roaring noise when the wormhole connects. Are you ready for that?"

Danny nodded.

Daniel straightened and gave Hammond a nod.

"Begin the dialing sequence," the general ordered.

As the gate began to dial, the eyes of Hammond and SG-1 were not on it, but on the little boy who was watching it for the first time. They were all hoping that this experience would be a good one and not cause another flashback. It was understood that, if Danny did have a flashback, the mission would be canceled for the day.

As each chevron engaged, the excitement on Danny's face grew. He knew that there would be seven and couldn't wait to see what happened when that seventh one was dialed.

And then the final chevron was locked, and, with a tremendous roar, the wormhole exploded into being. Danny started at the noise and the rush of the vortex, but showed no sign of suffering a flashback. He was staring at the Stargate with enormous eyes, his mouth hanging open in awestruck wonder.

"Pretty cool, huh," Jack said, smiling.

Danny nodded up and down emphatically.

Jack looked at his teammates. "That's probably one of the few times we'll ever see some named Daniel Jackson at a loss for words."

"It looks like water," Danny said.

"Oops. Should have known it wouldn't last for long," the colonel murmured.

Ignoring him, Daniel addressed the boy. "Yes, it does. That's what I thought when I first saw it."

"Does it feel like water?"

"No. It's kind of hard to describe how it feels."

"We need to get going, Daniel," Jack said.

"Right. Danny, you stay here, okay? You can watch us leave." Daniel gave the boy a quick hug. "We'll be back."

Danny watched SG-1 leave the room, then turned back to the gate room. A few seconds later, he saw them enter and walk up the ramp, along with SG-16, who were coming along to help. As the other SG team passed through the gate, the four members of SG-1 turned around and waved, then, one by one, walked into the rippling, water-like surface, vanishing from view. A moment later, the gate shut down. Danny swore that, someday, he'd get to walk through it.

* * *

The teams were met by Esha, Derdri and Cath, who took them straight to the meeting hall.

"We have talked at great length about these things," Esha said, "and we have all decided that we will stay here and build what we need to clean the water. We will go back to harvesting the wild plants and fruits. The decision on if we will return to eating meat is still being discussed."

"And what about the offer to give you sperm from the sperm bank?" Daniel asked. "We talked with people in our government, and they agreed to allow it."

"Then we will accept," Esha replied. "Your words to us were wise, Daniel. We must stop fearing what the children may grow up to be and love them for who they are."

The archeologist smiled. "Good. I'm glad."

SG-1 and 16 got down to the business of planning all that needed to be done. They had brought with them containers to fill with soil. The soil would be taken to Area 51, which was going to do the job of extracting the neutralizer. Once the process of extraction was perfected, the Cedarnans would be given the equipment they needed and trained in how to use it so that they could make the neutralizer themselves. Area 51 would also be working on a synthetic form of the neutralizer, although it could be months before one was created, tested and proven to be both safe and effective.

Several hours later, Esha brought SG-1 to the room where the cloning machine was. Only one of the devices that collected and transferred memories would be taken back to Earth. Area 51 had wanted both of them, but Daniel insisted that the Cedarnans be allowed to keep one since they used it as a teaching aid, and Hammond backed him up.

Daniel gazed at the machine that had created the little boy who was now a permanent part of his life. Even though he knew that Danny was a clone, that he was not conceived within a mother's womb and born into the world like other children were, it still seemed alien to think about the way the boy was really created. In Daniel's mind, regardless of where his genetic material came from and how it was grown, Danny was as precious and unique a human being as any other child.

Some of the Cedarnan scientists helped move the cloning machine out of the hospital. SG-16 took charge of it and headed off to the gate with it. They and SG-9 would be taking over on helping the Cedarnans and working out the fine points of the trade agreement. This would be the last time that SG-1 came here.

Esha walked with SG-1 back to the gate.

"Our people will always owe you a debt that we can never repay," he said. "What you have done will live in our history forever. All the generations to come will know that they have you to thank for their existence." He smiled. "Some of our artists are already working on statues and paintings of you. They will have a place of honor in our museum."

"That's why you took our pictures when we were here last?" Sam asked, surprised.

Esha smiled. "Yes."

Jack had a pleased expression on his face. "In your museum, you say?"

"Yes. We are discussing adding a room that is dedicated to this chapter in our history. The images of all of you will be its centerpiece."

That made Jack's proud smile get even bigger, his chest puffing out a little. "We might just have to come back here someday to take a look at that."

"We will gladly send you an invitation to the opening ceremony."

They arrived at the gate. SG-16 was already dialing it up. Figuring that Daniel might want to say a private goodbye to Esha, Jack, Teal'c and Sam joined the other team.

"Is the child who is your clone well?" the Cedarnan asked.

"Yes, he is," Daniel replied. "He's doing very well." He met the man's eyes. "Esha, I want to thank you."

"Thank me? It is we who owe all the thanks to you."

"No. I want to thank you for Danny. Though cloning me without my permission was a wrong thing to do, what has come of it is something that I will always be grateful for. I never got the chance to have a child of my own, and I never realized how incredible fatherhood could be. Danny has given me a . . . a joy beyond words. He is a part of my life and a part of my heart, and I love him dearly. So, thank you. Thank you for giving that to me."

Blinking back tears, Esha laid a hand on Daniel's cheek. "Bless the children, Daniel."

"For they are a great gift to be cherished," the archeologist finished.

Smiling, Esha embraced Daniel gently. The archeologist then walked away to join his teammates at the open wormhole. With a final wave goodbye, he stepped through.

* * *

"It was really cool watching you come through," Danny said as he and SG-1 walked down the hallway. The boy and Hammond had been in the control room to witness their return. "Uncle General George said that, sometimes, people get sick and almost throw up the first time they go through the gate. Did any of you throw up the first time?"

"I _almost_ did," Sam admitted. "My stomach felt like it was inside out."

"I felt a little sick, but, no, I didn't throw up," Daniel said.

"Jaffa do not vomit when they travel through the Stargate," Teal'c stated with pride.

"Colonels don't either," Jack declared. He paused. "Well, okay, so _most_ of them don't. I didn't."

Danny almost looked disappointed that none of them had thrown up.

When Daniel told Hammond during the debriefing that the Cedarnans were going to accept the sperm donations, the general said that he'd get started on making the arrangements. Of course, the Cedarnan doctors would have to be educated on the fertilization methods before they could make use of the sperm.

The cloning machine was the next topic. It was already being prepared for shipment off to Area 51.

"Okay, I gotta say that I really don't like the idea of those guys at Area 51 having that cloning machine," Jack remarked. "They might get it into their heads to make a few clones to study. And the thought of them creating a bunch children just to study them makes me sick."

"That, I'm afraid, is up to the president to either prevent or allow," Hammond responded, "although I will certainly express our concerns to him."

In what had become a tradition, SG-1 and Danny all went to the commissary for lunch and dessert. Danny had already eaten, so he just had dessert. Fearing for her waistline, Sam had blue Jell-O for her dessert. Curious about how it tasted, Danny was given a bite and decided that he liked it.

Back in their quarters, Daniel told Danny that, come tomorrow, they'd be moving out of the room and going to the archeologist's house.

"Does that mean I'm not going to be coming here anymore?" the boy asked with a sad look.

"Maybe sometimes you will, but not for a while. You see, I'm supposed to be on leave. That means I'm not supposed to be working. So, once we go to my home, I won't be coming back here for a while, probably a couple of weeks. There's no school right now, but you're probably not going to be able to come to work with me most days. The SGC is a military base, and the big bosses in the military wouldn't care for the idea of a child running around the base."

Danny was trying very hard not to cry. "But then I won't ever see Jack, and Sam, and Teal'c, and Uncle General George."

"Yes, you will, Danny. Sam, Jack and Teal'c will probably come over to our house for visits lots of times, and General Hammond can visit, too."

Danny's head was bowed, and he was twisting the hem of his T-shirt. Daniel put his arm around the boy.

"I know that you'll miss not seeing them every day, but we can't live here on the base forever."

"But I like it here."

"I know you do, but it's just not possible, Danny. Beside, you need to be out in the fresh air, and you need to go to school and play with other kids. Don't you want to have other kids to play with?"

"I guess," Danny mumbled.

"I know it will be a change from what you've gotten used to, but it's going to be all right. You'll see."

"Who's going to take care of me when you're at work?"

"I haven't figured that out yet. We'll work something out." Daniel hated the idea of putting Danny in daycare, but either that or hiring a regular babysitter were most likely the only options.

Daniel decided that this would be a good time to go over the cover story with Danny again. He went back over the whole thing.

"Since everybody who doesn't know the truth is going to think that I'm your dad, you're, uh, going to have to call me that when we're around those people. I know it's not going to be easy to remember to call me that when you're used to calling me Daniel, but if you call me Daniel around other people, they'll wonder why. Do you think that you can remember to call me Dad?"

"I think so."

Daniel smiled at him. "Okay, I think we're all set. Oh, there's something else. Because my house isn't big enough for two people, we're going to be looking for something bigger."

"Will I have my own room? I had my own room in my old house."

"Yes, once we get a bigger place, you'll have your own room."

"And it will just be you and me living there?"

"That's right."

"Not Sam?"

Daniel said nothing for a moment. "No, Sam won't be living there. She has her own house. I told you that she and I need to be only friends, Danny. We can't live together."

Daniel had thought that he kept all emotion off his face, but Danny must have seen something. "But you'd like her to live with us."

The archeologist sighed. He couldn't lie. In spite of his battle to keep them at bay, his feelings for Sam were continuing to grow. He was now having dreams of them making love, though, thankfully, none of them had gotten really intense . . . yet. Waking up to reality from one of those dreams was bad enough, but the other one, the dream he had last night, was much worse. In it, he, Danny and Sam were a family, Sam's abdomen round and heavy with a new life. There was this ache deep in his soul for her, a longing that was almost physically painful. He wanted her more than anything . . . and he could never have her.

Daniel felt a hand slip into his. He looked down at Danny, who was gazing at him in concern, looking upset.

"I don't like it when you're sad," the boy said. "You're sad because of Sam."

Daniel let out a deep, shuddery breath. "I really screwed up, Danny."

"What did you do?"

Daniel's gaze drifted across the room. "I've fallen in love with Sam."

"Romantic love?"

"Yeah. I think that maybe a little part of me has been in love with her like that for a very long time. I just didn't realize it."

"What are you going to do?"

"Nothing. I can't do anything, Danny. Sam and I can't be more than friends."

"But Uncle Jack said it isn't against the rules," Danny told him.

Daniel's head spun around. "You told him? Danny, I asked you not to tell."

"I didn't tell. I promise. I just asked him if there were any rules about any of you loving each other romantically. He said that civilians didn't have to follow any rules about that."

"And he didn't ask why you were asking?"

"Yes, but I said it was a secret."

Daniel sighed. "I wish you hadn't asked him, Danny."

The boy ducked his head. "I'm sorry."

"Why did you?"

"Because."

Daniel put a finger under Danny chin and lifted it. "Because why?"

The little boy met his eyes. "Because I want you to be happy, and you and Sam being together would make you happy. I thought if there weren't any rules against it, you could be together."

Daniel closed his eyes for a moment and drew Danny into his arms. "I wish it were that simple. I really do. There are a lot of reasons why Sam and I need to stay just friends. Being on the same team is just one of them. Danny, I do think that being with Sam would make me happy, but I can be happy without it. Having you in my life makes me happy. It'll be okay with just the two of us. Really." Daniel felt like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was the little boy.

Danny didn't understand why it was that Daniel and Sam couldn't be together if it wasn't against the rules. He wished that he could ask Uncle Jack, but that would be breaking his promise. What he _did_ know was that Daniel was really sad about not being together with Sam, and he wanted Daniel to be happy. Was Sam also sad? If she was, he wanted her to be happy, too.

Maybe _he_ could do something to make them get together. But how do you make people get together? Danny remembered one time that his mom and dad went out for what his dad called a romantic dinner. They both got all dressed up, and Danny had to stay with a babysitter. When they got back home, they were both smiling a lot. He was supposed to be in bed but had snuck out of his room when he heard them come home. After the babysitter left, Mom and Dad had started kissing and giggling a lot and went to their bedroom. Danny had heard strange noises coming from their room after that.

Would a romantic dinner make Daniel and Sam get together? If it would, how could he get them to go on one? He really wished that he could talk to Uncle Jack about this. Jack would know what to do.

* * *

Daniel and Danny were busy packing their belongings early the next morning when there was an unscheduled off-world activation.

"What does that mean?" Danny asked.

"It means that somebody is dialing into our gate unexpectedly. I should go see what it's about. Will you be all right here?"

"Yeah, it's okay. I'm not scared about being by myself anymore."

It turned out that the person dialing in was Warrick. SG-1 had met the alien the year Daniel was ascended. They found him, a survivor of his crew, and several human prisoners on P2X-131. The prisoner transport ship Warrick piloted had crash landed on the planet, and they'd all been stranded there for three years.

Warrick's home planet, Hebridan, didn't have a Stargate. He explained to Daniel and Hammond in the briefing room that he had piloted his ship to the nearest planet that had one he could use.

Sam hadn't gotten to the SGC yet when Warrick arrived, but, due to the message the general had left at the checkpoints for her, came straight to the briefing room the moment she arrived. She was dressed in a leather jacket and pants and carried a motorcycle helmet, which made it clear how she'd gotten to work today. Daniel smiled slightly when he thought about the look on Danny's face if Sam ever gave him a ride on her bike.

In the briefing that followed, they learned that Warrick wanted their help to win a race and was willing to allow the SGC to study the ion propulsion drive in his ship in return for their aid. That aid would be in the form of a Naquadah generator. Sam was all for it and insisted that she needed to accompany Warrick on the race to keep an eye on the generator. Hammond agreed to the terms, and SG-1, minus Daniel, would be leaving with Warrick later in the morning. It would take two days to get to his homeworld.

Knowing that they'd be gone for several days, Jack, Sam and Teal'c each came to say goodbye to Danny. It turned out that they weren't the only ones. Knocks kept coming on the door of Daniel's quarters as various personnel came to say farewell. Even the gruff, tough Colonel Dixon came to give Danny a pat on the head and orders to, "Keep your head down, and don't let any wackos snatch you."

Just before he and Danny were going to leave, Daniel went to Sam's lab. There was a Naquadah generator on the worktable, plus a variety of tools and other things. Sam was busy packing the stuff into cases.

"So, you guys heading off for your place?" she asked, continuing to pack.

Daniel nodded. "We'll be leaving in a few minutes, that is if the rest of the people on base don't decide to come say goodbye."

Sam grinned. "Danny's become pretty popular around here."

"I found out that Warrick has set up meetings with the highest ranking members of the Hebridan government and business community."

"I bet Colonel O'Neill is really looking forward to that," Sam remarked, knowing that it would be just the opposite.

"Oh, yeah. He's now wishing that I was going along."

"I can imagine so."

Daniel paused. "You really think this is worth it, Sam?"

"Absolutely." Sam glanced at him. "Why? Don't you?"

"No . . . yeah. . . . I just . . . you just seem unusually . . . Gung Ho."

Sam stopped packing and turned to face him, smiling. "Gung Ho?"

"This is kind of more than about attaining new technology for you, isn't it."

"You mean helping Warrick? He did once risk his life for me."

"Yeah, I heard that. I just think that there's something else."

"Look, I know that this could be dangerous. But this is our job, right? It's what we signed on to do. We take risks in the hope of achieving new levels of technology. If, and I stress, _if_ participating in this race happens to be a little bit . . . I don't know. . . ."

"Fun?" Daniel supplied.

Sam grinned and lifted her arms up into the air and shrugged casually. "What's a girl to do?"

Daniel smiled, too. "Nothing. That's . . . that's just what I thought."

Sam went back to packing.

"Sam?"

"Hmm?"

"Please be careful."

The major turned back around at the note of concern in Daniel's voice. All levity was now gone from his face.

"Hey, I'll be fine, Daniel. Don't worry."

"I just wish I was going."

"Even if you were going to Hebridan, Daniel, you wouldn't be going on the ship with me."

"I know. I guess I'd just feel better if I was there rather than light-years away."

Sam reached out and laid a hand on his arm. "It's going to be all right, Daniel. You'll see."

She was a little surprised when Daniel laid his hand over the one she had on his arm. The warm touch made her skin tingle. And then his thumb began caressing the back of her hand, and her breath hitched at the sensation it caused. She met his eyes for a long, searching moment, then she very gently withdrew her hand, giving him a smile that she tried her level best to make casual.

"It'll be okay," she reiterated, resuming her packing.

"I'll see you in a few days, Sam," Daniel said softly, then left.

Sam slowly let out the breath she'd been holding and continued her packing, shoving thoughts of Daniel and how his touch made her feel as far out of her mind as possible.


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

As he and Daniel left Cheyenne Mountain and headed down into the city, Danny's gaze remained on the sights outside the window, taking everything in.

"It's different," he said once they got into town. "All the cars, and the clothes, and other stuff."

"Things change in thirty years, Danny," Daniel pointed out. "It's the twenty-first century now. That little computer that I work on and the one you played on didn't exist back in 1973. Neither did a whole lot of other things you'll see. Actually, that makes me realize something. I'm going to have to teach you about all that stuff so that you're familiar with it. I'll also have to teach you some of the history of the past thirty years." He smiled. "We've got our work cut out for us before you go off to school in the fall."

They were soon at Daniel's place. Thankfully, Jack had been taking care of things like mowing the lawn, picking up the mail, and feeding Daniel's fish. He didn't touch the fridge, however – except to get beer from it – so there would be some spoiled food to clear out.

"I figured that I'd take the couch and you could sleep on the bed," Daniel said as they took the suitcase into the bedroom.

Danny frowned a bit. "But you're a lot bigger than me. I'd fit on the couch better."

Daniel smiled. "That is true, but I should be okay until we find a new place."

Danny shook his head. "No. You sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on the couch."

The archeologist smiled, knowing that Jack would be making a comment about Danny having the same stubborn streak as Daniel. "Okay, if you insist."

Happy that he'd won the argument, Danny helped Daniel unpack the clothes and put them away. Daniel cleared a corner of his closet for Danny's shirts and emptied a drawer in the dresser for the boy's pants, T-shirts, underwear and socks. They would have to go shopping for more clothes for him since the four changes of clothing would definitely not be enough now that they were no longer on the base. Sam and Janet had been taking the dirty clothes home to wash every two or three days.

Danny was interested in the artifacts Daniel had at home, although he thought that the tribal masks were too creepy to be in the bedroom.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing at a large metal box with a glass front on the kitchen counter.

"Ah, that's a microwave oven, one of the handiest inventions of the twentieth century. It makes cooking food fast and easy. Great for leftovers. Mom would have loved it. And here's something else that's cool." Daniel took him to the living room, pointing at the VCR. "When I'm not at home, if there's a special program on TV that I want to see, that will make a recording of it so that I can watch it later. Also, I can get movies and other things I want to see from a store and play them. We'll have to get some movies for you to watch."

"The Indiana Jones movies?"

Daniel smiled down at him. "You remember that?"

"Uh huh."

"Okay, the Indiana Jones movies, too. Actually, I already have all of them. Jack gave them to me as a Christmas present one year. So, do you want to stay here or would you like to go shopping for clothes, food, and movies?"

"Shopping!" Danny immediately replied.

"Shopping it is. I'm afraid that we have to clean out the refrigerator first, though."

The next few minutes were spent on that task, accompanied by several comments of disgust from both Danny and Daniel. Fortunately, the archeologist hadn't had a great deal in the fridge that would spoil. Even so, there were a few "science experiments" going on inside.

The first stop was to a department store, where, for the first time in his life, Daniel went shopping in a children's clothing department. It was actually kind of enjoyable, the two Daniels going through the racks, Danny picking out what he liked. A couple of times, Daniel noticed women watching them, but didn't pay much attention to it.

At one point, Danny ran off to look at the shoes while Daniel lingered at a rack of children's pajamas. Danny came back a few minutes later, frowning.

"What's wrong?" Daniel asked.

"A lady came up to me and asked if you were my dad and if you were married."

Daniel's eyebrows rose. "She did? What did you tell her?"

"I told her that you were my dad and that you weren't married."

"That's good."

"Then she wrote down her phone number and told me to give it to you."

Daniel gaped at the child. "S-she did?"

"Yeah. She said to tell you to call her."

"Uhhhh. . . ." Daniel was now at a loss for words.

Danny frowned more severely. "I didn't like her, so I tore it up when she wasn't looking."

It took a lot for Daniel not to burst into laughter. "That was probably a good decision." He didn't think he'd be interested in a woman who hit on him through a child.

"I like Sam a lot better," Danny added, which succeeded in dousing Daniel's humor. He was still worried about her, knowing that the race she'd be participating in was dangerous. He was trying not to think about it.

He went over to the shoe department with Danny, and they got a second pair of sneakers for the boy. These had lights in the heels that lit up when you walked, which pleased Danny, who, of course, had never seen anything like it before.

At the department store, Daniel also got some toys, books and drawing things for Danny. After getting some lunch at McDonald's, the next stop was the grocery store, where Daniel got an education on what kids liked and didn't like . . . and how unhappy they could get when you got something for them to eat that they didn't like. He had to stand firm on some things, determined to give Danny a relatively healthy diet, including the detested vegetables.

"Trust me, Danny. When you grow up, you'll like broccoli," Daniel stated as they wheeled the shopping cart to the car.

"How do you know?" the boy asked a bit petulantly.

The archeologist looked at him. "Because _I_ like broccoli."

"But I thought you said that I might not like everything you do when I grow up."

Daniel thought about that before answering. Would Danny develop different likes and dislikes in food? "I'm not sure of that applies to food, Danny. You have the same taste buds as me. I guess we'll see. I don't think I liked broccoli at your age, either."

"But you're going to make me eat it anyway."

"Yep, just like Mom and Dad did." He looked down at his clone again. "I'll tell you what. I'll make a cheese sauce for the broccoli. Broccoli with cheese sauce tastes great."

Danny looked unconvinced, but didn't complain anymore.

The last stop was the video store, where they picked up enough movies to last several days. Once the groceries and clothes were put away, Daniel began the task of teaching Danny about today's technology and the history of the past thirty years. For now, he would focus on the more important historical events. Though the Internet was great for this, he knew that he was going to have to pick up some history books as well.

Telling Danny about the events of 9/11 wasn't easy. Though he had already been aware of what terrorism was, such brutal acts on that great a scale terrified the boy, as it did virtually every other child in America when the attack happened.

"Could terrorists come here and blow up buildings?" Danny asked.

"Well, they could, but I doubt that they'd be interested in blowing up buildings in Colorado Springs." Daniel did not add that Peterson Air Force Base right outside the city and NORAD, which sat right above the SGC, would be prime targets for terrorists.

Deciding that they'd had enough lessons for the day, Daniel played a DVD, which Danny insisted be one of the Indiana Jones movies. Daniel, worried that the graphic content of Raiders of the Lost Ark would scare the boy and cause nightmares, warned him ahead of time. As it turned out, Danny was more interested finding out how they made all the "gross stuff" look so real when it was only make believe. He also commented on how all the bodies in the Well of Souls should be just bare skeletons since the chamber had apparently been exposed to the air all those thousands of years and would have lots of bugs in it. Daniel smiled at that comment, which was the very thought he had when he first saw the movie. Daniel, in turn, pointed out the inaccuracy that a small bag of sand would weigh as much as an idol made of gold, which Danny agreed with, having actually handled real gold artifacts and knowing how heavy they were.

As promised, the broccoli they had with dinner that night was topped with cheese sauce. Danny decided that he liked it and ate it all without Daniel having to tell him to do so.

After dinner, they watched another movie, a Disney cartoon to discourage nightmares.

As Daniel tucked Danny in that night, the boy asked when they would start looking for a new house.

"Well, I was thinking that I'd look at the newspaper tomorrow to see what's listed there," Daniel replied. "It might take a while to find the right place, though."

"When we get a new house, are you going to put the creepy masks in your bedroom?"

Daniel grinned. "Oh, I suppose not. I don't need them to keep me company anymore. I have you now. And you're _much_ better company than they ever were."

Once Danny had fallen asleep, Daniel checked his email and went through the pile of mail sitting on the counter. To his delight, there was a letter from Catherine Langford. After reading it, he decided to give her a call.

"Daniel! How wonderful to hear from you. It's been way too long since we talked last. How have you been?"

The last time they'd talked – and seen each other – was after Daniel had descended and recovered a good portion of his memories. He'd found out from his teammates that they told Catherine the truth about what happened to him, figuring that she deserved to know what had become of the man she looked upon as a son. Catherine had cried over the phone when Daniel called her and insisted on seeing him as soon as possible. They spent several days together a few months ago.

"I've been good," Daniel replied. "Busy, as usual."

"Yes, you're always busy in that place. Any exciting new discoveries?" When Daniel didn't answer immediately, Catherine sensed that something was up. "What's wrong?"

"Well, I've got some news. A couple of weeks ago, we went to a planet called Cedarna." Daniel proceeded to tell the woman about the inhabitants' problem with reproduction and the reason for it.

"So, they'll be able to recover from this?" Catherine asked.

"Yes, especially since they agreed to the donations from sperm banks." Daniel paused. "There's a reason why I've told you about this. We found out that, to keep from dying out, the people had been making clones using a machine left by a race that was apparently on the planet before they got there."

"Clones? Incredible."

"The Cedarnans were going to other planets and getting DNA samples from people without their knowledge. They . . . they got one from me, too."

"Oh no. Daniel, are you saying that these people made a clone of you?"

"Yeah. But there's more. The clones were made to mature rapidly, but this machine didn't do it completely. The clones were all children when they came out . . . including mine. He's here, Catherine, with me."

There was a moment of silence. "Your clone is living with you?"

"Yes. He's eight years old and has all the memories I did at that age."

"Oh my word. That's remarkable. Does he know what he is?"

"Yes, we had no choice but to tell him."

"That poor child."

"He's doing pretty well." Daniel paused. "It's . . . been an amazing experience, Catherine, having a child in my life and learning how to be a father. Danny is a fantastic kid. Uhhh . . . does that sound conceited?"

Catherine laughed. "Not at all. Oh, I'm dying to meet him. You'll have to bring him out here one of these days."

"Yes, I will. I'm sure he'll love you."

"I never had children or grandchildren, you know. I've cared for my sister's and brother's kids and grandkids, though, and it's always a joy to have the little ones in the house."

Daniel said goodbye to the woman a short while later, then went off to bed, his thoughts on what the next day would bring.

* * *

Daniel was at the dining room table with a cup of coffee and the morning paper when Danny got up. Up until then, the boy had been taking baths, but Daniel decided this would be a good time to teach him how to take a shower. Danny came to the conclusion that he liked showers better than baths.

As Danny showered and got dressed, Daniel fixed breakfast. After the meal was finished and the dishes rinsed, Daniel returned to the paper, this time with Danny beside him. They looked at the listings for houses together.

"This one sounds promising," Daniel said, pointing at one. "It's got three bedrooms, a large yard, and is in a pretty good part of town."

"How come we need three bedrooms when there's only two of us?" Danny asked.

"So that we have a guest room in case we have company that stays overnight."

There were a total of six houses listed in the paper that Daniel decided they should take a look at. Of those six, he and Danny eliminated three by just looking at the outside of the houses and the neighborhoods they were in. A fourth was taken off the list once they took a peek in the windows and saw the tiny bedrooms. The remaining two were still occupied, so they couldn't look inside. Daniel decided that he'd call and make arrangements to view the inside. He then called a real estate office and spoke to a woman who said that she'd put together a list of houses that fit his criteria, asking if he'd be able to go look at some of them on Monday.

"Sure, that would be fine. I'm on leave right now, so my time is free."

"On leave? Are you in the service?"

"No, I'm a civilian, but I work in Cheyenne Mountain."

"Ah, okay. You know, thinking about, I actually do know of a couple places off the top of my head that might work for you. Would you like to take a look at them today? My schedule is free in the afternoon."

"All right. I'll have my son with me, if that's all right."

"No problem."

That afternoon, Daniel and Danny went to the realtor and met with Megan Radcliff, who drove them to the first house. As the adults walked through the inside, Danny ran out into the backyard.

"Your son looks just like you, Doctor Jackson," Megan remarked.

"Yes, that's what everyone says."

"And his mother?"

Daniel paused. Okay, here would be the first time he'd use the 'cover story'. "She passed away a few weeks ago."

"Oh no. I'm terribly sorry."

"She and I got divorced when Danny was little, and she had custody. I visited him regularly, but we're still adjusting to him living with me."

"That must be very difficult for both of you."

"Sometimes, but we're doing all right."

Danny came running in. "There's a swing in the backyard," he announced.

"That's nice. How about if we take a look at the bedrooms?"

Though the master bedroom was large, the two others were quite small, which Daniel didn't like. The bedroom he had now wasn't very big, so he knew from experience how aggravating it could be to have a bedroom that was too small. He hoped that the house he bought would be one that he and Danny would live in for years to come, and he wanted Danny's bedroom to be one in which a teenager would be comfortable. That made him start to think about how it was going to be when Danny was that old, but he quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. He had too much to think about already.

The other house they looked at had bedrooms that were a bit bigger, but the backyard, instead of being grass, was a perfectly manicured garden, not someplace in which a child could really play. Of course, the yard could be changed, but that was a task and expense that Daniel didn't want to undertake unless he had no choice.

They returned to the real estate office, and Megan said goodbye to them till Monday.

On Sunday, Daniel took Danny to the Garden of the Gods, which the boy found quite impressive. That afternoon they spent at the park, Danny having fun in the playground.

On Monday, the search for a new home continued. By the time they called it quits for the day, Danny was getting worn out and a little cranky, tired of driving from house to house. That evening, Daniel called Janet to find out if, by chance, she'd be off-duty tomorrow and could watch Danny so that the boy wouldn't have to be dragged out on another day of house hunting. Unfortunately, Janet had to work. However, when Daniel called General Hammond to see if anyone else at the SGC was going to be off and could babysit the boy, the general said that he could take the day off himself.

"Who would take command of the base, sir?" Daniel asked. "Jack usually does when you're off-duty."

"Colonel Reynolds is not on a mission. I'm sure he'll have no trouble taking care of things for the day. I was actually already considering taking the day off. My daughter and son-in-law want to go to a concert in Denver tomorrow and would like to make a day of it. Normally, Tessa could watch her little sister, but Kate and Gary most likely won't be back until well after midnight, and they didn't want the two girls to be in the house alone at night. Watching Danny gives me an additional reason to take the day off. I'm sure he'll have fun with Kayla and Tessa, although Tessa will most likely mother him to death."

Daniel smiled. "All right, sir. That would be great, and I know that Danny would love spending time with you."

"Then it's all settled. What time can we expect you?"

"Would 8:30 be okay? That would allow me a little time to hang around and make sure Danny's going to be all right."

"That will be fine. We'll see you then."

Danny loved the idea of spending the day with Hammond, although he was a little unsure about meeting the man's granddaughters.

Shortly before Daniel and Danny were due to arrive, General Hammond sat down with Kayla and Tessa to explain things to them.

"A friend of mine is going to be bringing his son, Danny, over. He needs somebody to babysit Danny for a few hours, and I told him that I could do it."

"How old is he?" Kayla asked.

"He's eight."

"Is he a big brat? Monica's little brother is eight, and he's a pain."

"Kayla Lynn, you shouldn't talk like that," Hammond scolded. "Danny is a very nice boy. I know that you'll like him. There's something that you need to know, though, so that you don't ask certain questions. Danny lost his mother just a few weeks ago, and he's still very sad about it."

"She died?" Tessa asked, her mothering instinct immediately rising to the fore over the little boy.

"Yes. So, I don't want you to ask any questions about his family, all right? It'll just upset him."

"All right," the two girls said at the same time.

At 8:30, Daniel and Danny pulled up into General Hammond's driveway. Hammond and his granddaughters came out to greet them. Danny, a little shy, stayed close to Daniel as the general introduced the girls.

"Would you like to go play in the yard?" Tessa asked. "We've got swings and stuff back there."

Danny looked up at Daniel with uncertainty and a little trepidation.

"It's okay, Danny," the archeologist said, giving him an encouraging smile. "I'll be with General Hammond in the house for a while. I'll come out and say goodbye before I leave."

Tessa grabbed hold of Danny's hand and fairly dragged him into the backyard as Daniel and Hammond went into the house. The two men watched through the sliding glass doors as the girls started playing with Danny, who seemed a little unsure, but climbed onto a swing as Kayla got on the other one. Tessa took up position behind Danny and started pushing him, which clearly surprised the boy.

"How has he been adapting to living off the base?" Hammond asked Daniel.

"Pretty well, sir. He was upset about not seeing everybody every day, but he's adjusting all right."

The general turned to the archeologist. "We're off-base and off-duty, Daniel. I think it's all right for you to call me 'George'."

Daniel smiled slight. "Sorry, sir . . . I mean, George."

"Have you had your coffee yet this morning?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't say no to a second cup."

The general poured Daniel a cup, and the two men sat where they could watch the kids play.

"Has there been any word from Jack, Sam and Teal'c?" the archeologist asked.

"No, but we really didn't expect there to be. Their orders were only to contact us if they needed help, and the earliest we can expect them back is Friday."

Daniel nodded.

"You're concerned about them," Hammond guessed.

The archeologist shrugged. "This is the first time that I haven't gone with them on a mission since I returned. Before I left, the last time I didn't join them on a mission was when I was on that archeological expedition, and they ended up going off to Juna to meet with their robot doubles and nearly all got killed."

Hammond said nothing for a short while. "Have you given any thought on what you will do once you return from leave?"

Daniel looked down into his coffee. "Yes, I have, a lot, actually, and, to be honest, I still don't know what I'm going to do. I know that, for Danny's sake, I should transfer off SG-1 and stay on base. My life wouldn't be in as great a risk, and I'd have more regular hours."

"But your heart is with SG-1 and going through the Stargate," the general surmised.

"A big part of it is, but another part of it is with Danny. He needs me. I don't know what it would do to him if he lost me, too."

"I can understand how difficult this decision would be. Whatever you decide to do, I will support you one hundred percent, Daniel."

The archeologist gave him a little smile. "Thank you, sir . . . George. I appreciate that."

A few minutes before he had to leave, Daniel went into the backyard to say goodbye to Danny.

"I need to get going now. Will you be okay?"

Danny nodded. "We're going to play in the sandbox, and I told them that I'd show them how to make the Giza Pyramids."

"That sounds like fun." Daniel gave the boy a hug. "I'll be back in a few hours."

After Daniel left, Danny, Kayla and Tessa went to the sandbox with a bucket of water, and the boy began sculpting the wet sand into the three pyramids of the Giza Plateau, trying to remember the positioning and difference in the proportions of each one. As he finished, he knew he didn't have it quite right, but decided that it was close enough.

"That one is Khufu's," he said, pointing to the largest pyramid. He gestured at the second largest one next. "That one's Khafre's, and the littlest one is Menkaure's pyramid."

"How do you know all that?" Kayla asked. "What grade are you in?"

"Fourth."

"But you're only eight! How can you be in fourth grade?"

Danny made himself a little smaller. "B-because schoolwork for my age was too easy. Mom and Dad said that most kids my age don't know the things I do and can't speak six languages."

"You can speak six languages?" Tessa asked in amazement.

Danny nodded.

"Which ones?"

"English, Arabic, French, German, Spanish, and Greek. I've started learning Italian, too, but I don't know a lot of it yet. And I can read Hieratic, which is the regular, everyday writing the ancient Egyptians used, and I know a lot of hieroglyphic symbols. I'm learning Akkadian and Sumerian cuneiform, too."

"You're making all that up," Kayla said, frowning.

"I am not," Danny said defiantly.

"Then prove it."

Danny stuck out his chin, and proceeded to rattle off sentences in each of the five foreign languages he knew. He then wrote some symbols in the sand that looked like a bunch of squiggles to the two girls, saying that it was Hieratic and translating it for them. After that, he did some hieroglyphs, which Tessa did recognize, though she didn't know their meaning. Then came some cuneiform, both Akkadian and Sumerian.

At that moment, General Hammond came out. "And what are you three up to?"

Tessa looked up at him. "Danny can speak six languages, and he wrote words in languages that I've never heard of, except for hieroglyphs."

General Hammond gave a little chuckle. He smiled down at Danny. "Showing off a little, Danny?"

The boy's gaze fell to the sand. "No," he mumbled. "Kayla didn't believe me when I told her I could."

"He's in fourth grade," Kayla said. "I didn't learn all that stuff in fourth grade."

"No, I should imagine that most kids don't, Kayla. Danny, do you feel like explaining how you know all those things?"

"My . . . my mom and dad were archeologists, and my mom was a linguist, which is somebody who studies languages. We went on a lot of digs in Egypt and other places. Mom and Dad taught me lots of things that they knew."

"I thought that man who brought you was your dad, and that only your mom was dead," Tessa said, having caught Danny referring to both parents in the past tense.

Danny got scared, realizing he'd made a mistake. Wide-eyed, he stammered, "H-h-he is. S-s-s-she is." He scrambled to his feet and ran away into the house.

Realizing what she'd done, Tessa said, "I'm sorry, Grandpa. I didn't mean to upset him."

"I know you didn't, Tessa. This is my fault. I'll go see to him. You and Kayla stay out here."

General Hammond went into the house and started looking for the boy. "Danny? Danny, where are you? It's all right, Son. Nobody's mad at you."

Not getting an answer, Hammond kept looking and finally found Danny hiding in a corner in the living room, behind a chair. Moving the chair out of the way, he knelt beside the child, who was crying.

"Danny, don't cry. It's all right."

"I m-messed all up," Danny sobbed. "Daniel's supposed to be m-my daddy, but I messed it all up. Daniel's going to be dis-disappointed in me."

Feeling his heart crack open a little, Hammond lifted the boy up and sat with him on the chair, Danny in his lap.

"Daniel is not going to be disappointed in you, Danny. I promise. You only made a little mistake, and it's my fault that you did. I shouldn't have asked you to explain to Tessa and Kayla how you know those things. I'm very sorry about that."

"Tessa and Kayla are going to know the secret now," Danny said in a muted tone.

"No, I don't think they will, Danny. If they ask, I'll just explain that you used the wrong words because of being upset about your mother. It will be all right. You'll see." He lifted the boy's face and wiped the tears away. "Now, dry your eyes. Tessa's very sad that she made you upset, and I'm sure she'd like to apologize."

"I don't want to go back out there."

"All right. How about if they come in here? We can do some things in the house for a while."

It took a while for Danny to give Hammond a nod, but he finally did. The general left Danny on the chair and went to get his granddaughters.

"Is Danny okay?" the elder girl asked.

"He's still a little upset, but I think he'll be all right."

"I'm sorry, too, Grandpa," Kayla said. "I didn't want to upset him."

"I know, sweetheart."

"Is he going to come back out?"

"No, he doesn't feel like it right now. I think that you should all play inside for a while. Just be very gentle with him, all right? He is still hurting a lot over his mother's death."

"We will, Grandpa," Tessa promised.

Hammond and the girls went inside. Danny's gaze was focused on his lap, his arms wrapped about himself in a way that the general recalled the elder Daniel occasionally doing during those first few years at the SGC.

Tessa and Kayla walked up to him.

"I'm sorry I made you sad, Danny," the older girl said. "I didn't mean to."

"And I'm sorry I didn't believe you when you said you knew all those things," Kayla told him. "I didn't know that anybody could be that smart."

"Won't you come play with us again?" Tessa asked. She wanted to give the little boy a hug, but she didn't know if she should.

"I don't want to go outside," Danny mumbled, eyes still cast downward.

"That's okay. We can play in here. We've got lots of toys. We'll play anything you want to."

"Or how about some TV?" Hammond suggested, thinking that Danny might be more comfortable with that.

"Can we watch The Little Mermaid?" Kayla asked him excitedly.

Hammond smiled, not surprised by the question. It was her favorite movie. "Ask Danny if that would be okay."

"Is that okay, Danny? Have you ever seen it?"

The boy shook his head.

"Oh, you'll love it! It's my very favorite."

Tessa, who had suffered through watching the movie at least a million times, wasn't thrilled about seeing it again, but didn't say anything, hoping the cartoon would cheer Danny up.

The boy watched the first part of the movie in silence, slowly becoming interested in the story. They were about twenty minutes into it when he said in a very soft voice, "Some people think that the mermaid legend came from the manatee or the dugong."

"What are those?" Kayla asked, her attention briefly drawn away from the cartoon.

"Sea cows. They kinda look a little like walruses, except they don't have tusks."

"But mermaids look like girls with fish tails."

"Some scientists think that sailors made up the stories about mermaids after they saw sea cows."

"How do you know all these things?" Tessa asked.

Danny shrugged. "Mom and Dad told me lots of things, and I learned stuff from other people, too. I like learning things about history and mythology."

"History is boring," Kayla stated.

Danny shook his head. "No, it's not. There's lots of cool things that happened a long time ago."

"Like what?"

"Like . . . like the Egyptians figuring out how to make the pyramids with blocks that weigh thousands and thousands of pound when they didn't have cranes or anything like that to lift them up."

General Hammond smiled slightly. Apparently, Daniel hadn't explained to the boy that the ancient Egyptians had some otherworldly help in building the pyramids.

"So, how did they do it?" Tessa asked. She had actually studied this a little in school, but she wanted to see how much Danny knew.

It turned out that the boy knew quite a lot and explained the different _terrestrial_ theories on how the pyramids were built. He didn't say anything about the theory that aliens helped, because he didn't think he should talk about aliens since they really did exist. Maybe aliens _did_ help make the pyramids. He'd have to ask Daniel.

"Wow. You really are smart," Kayla said, which made Danny duck his head shyly.

They went back to watching the movie. After it was finished, they had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.

Danny was back to feeling mostly at ease with the two girls, though he was very careful not to say anything about his mom and dad, not wanting to mess up again. But, even though he was now enjoying himself again, he missed Daniel and wanted him to come back soon. 


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The house hunting that morning was more productive than the day before. A couple of the places were pretty good, though not ideal. Megan had an appointment with another client late that morning, but said that she could resume the search with him afterwards.

Daniel made arrangements with the owners to see the inside of the two occupied houses that he and Danny looked at on Saturday. Unfortunately, neither house would work out.

As he ate lunch, Daniel decided to call and see if Danny was doing okay.

"How's the search going?" Hammond asked.

"We've found a couple that might work out, but nothing that I'm completely happy with. This was a whole lot easier when I was looking for a place for just me."

"Yes, everything becomes more complicated when you have a family."

"How is Danny doing?"

General Hammond looked over at the three children, who were eating their sandwiches and talking about recent movies they'd seen. Actually, the two girls were the ones doing most of the talking, with Danny asking an occasional question.

"He's doing well. We had a bit of an incident earlier, but it's all cleared up."

"Do I need to come back?"

"No, no. Everything's fine, Daniel. You take care of what you need to do. I bet Danny would like to say hello, though. I'll put him on the phone." Hammond turned back to the dining room. "Danny? Your father's on the phone. Would you like to speak with him?"

The boy immediately got off the chair and came running up to the general, who handed the phone to him.

"Dan . . . Dad?"

"Hey, Danny. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. Did you find a house?"

"Maybe. I'm going to look at a few more this afternoon. Will you be okay staying there for a few more hours?"

"Yes," Danny replied even though he wished that Daniel would come back sooner.

"Are you having fun with Kayla and Tessa?"

"Uh huh."

"That's good. Okay, I have to go now, but if you need to talk to me or really want to come home, you have General Hammond give me a call. All right?"

"All right. Bye."

"Bye."

Daniel hung up and finished his lunch. At one o'clock, he met with Megan again, and they went to the next house on the list. As soon as they pulled up in front of it, Daniel felt the breath halt in his lungs for a moment. He sat staring at it for several seconds.

"Daniel? Are you all right?"

The archeologist blinked and turned to Megan, who was out of the car and looking at him through the open window.

"Oh. Yes. Yes, I'm all right."

Daniel got out of the car and walked with the woman up the walkway.

"Now, this is an older home, built back in the sixties," the realtor explained, "but all the plumbing and wiring is up to code, and there is no asbestos. The place has been completely repainted as well, so you also wouldn't have to worry about lead paint."

Daniel was only listening to her with a portion of his mind as his eyes kept scanning the house. The woman unlocked the door and led him inside.

"The previous owners have done some renovations, but I think they managed to retain the original charm of the house. There are some wonderful features that you won't find in the newer homes."

The layout inside was somewhat different from his memory, which Daniel had expected, but, even so, the feeling of deja vu was still strong. He noted that all three bedrooms were a good size and had plenty of closet space. The living room and kitchen were also nice. But it was when they stepped into the backyard that the feeling of deja vu really kicked in with a vengeance. The entire back side of the house had a covered, ground-level veranda with a concrete floor. Daniel could picture in his mind lawn chairs and tables, a barbeque grill off to the side. Beyond the veranda was a large fenced yard with a big shade tree right in the middle, perfect for climbing.

"Daniel?" Megan inquired.

The archeologist gave himself a little shake and looked at her. "What?"

"I'm sorry. You spaced off again there for a moment. Is everything all right?"

"Yes. I think we found it."

The woman smiled. "We have?"

Daniel looked around. "Yes. I need to bring Danny here, though, make sure it's all right with him. Can I do that later this afternoon?"

"I'm afraid that I have another client then. I'll tell you what. I don't normally do this, but how about if I give you the key, and you can show the house to Danny yourself? All I ask is that you return the key to the office before it closes. Would that be all right?"

"Yes, that would be fine. Thank you."

"Would you like to take a look at any other homes? I still have a couple of hours."

"Um, okay."

The two of them looked at three more houses, but Daniel couldn't get that other one out of his mind.

Before they parted, Megan gave Daniel the key to the house he wanted to show Danny.

"If you decide you want the house, call me on my cell any time," she said. "The owners are eager to sell, so I'm sure we can work out terms and a price that will please everyone."

"Thanks. I'll let you know as soon as I can."

Daniel headed straight over to General Hammond's house. When he got there, the three children were playing with Legos in the living room. Danny had constructed what looked a little like an ancient Egyptian temple.

"So, which Egyptian god is that one for?" Daniel asked, grinning.

Hearing his voice, Danny quickly turned around. Seeing Daniel, he scrambled to his feet and ran over. Daniel scooped him up and gave him a big hug.

"Mmm. I missed you," he said.

"I missed you, too," Danny responded. "Did you find a house?"

"Yes, Danny, I think I did. But I want you to come look at it. It's going to be both of ours, so I want you to be happy with it, too. How would you like to go there now?"

Danny gave him a nod.

"Go say goodbye to Kayla and Tessa, then."

Daniel let the boy down and watched him run back over to the two girls. He turned to Hammond.

"Thank you for watching him. I really appreciate it."

"It was my pleasure, Daniel. Danny is a wonderful child, and Tessa and Kayla have enjoyed playing with him. We would all be delighted to do this with him again."

"Thanks. I might take you up on that."

His goodbye to the girls having been said, Danny came back over. General Hammond bent down, and the boy gave him a long, tight hug.

"I love you, Uncle General George," Danny whispered.

A trace of tears in his eyes, George Hammond hugged the boy even tighter. "And I love you, Danny, just like you're my own grandson."

"Do you have any real grandsons?"

"No, I don't. Kayla and Tessa are the only grandchildren I have, at least so far."

Danny was silent for a while. "Could I be your pretend grandson? Then I could call you Grandpa. My real grandpa didn't like to be called that. He wanted to be called Nick."

It took a lot to make Major General George Hammond cry, but that almost did it. He glanced up at Daniel to see a lot of emotion in the younger man's eyes.

"I would be honored and very happy to be your pretend grandfather, Danny," he said a little roughly. "And I would love for you to call me Grandpa."

Danny smiled up at him. "Grandpa."

Hammond also smiled. "Now, you'd better get going so that you can see that house your dad wants you to look at."

"When can I see you again?"

"I don't know yet, Danny. We'll have to see how things work out."

On the road, Daniel glanced at Danny. "Did you have fun?"

"Uh huh, but Kayla and Tessa don't know very much about the Egyptians or mythology."

Daniel smiled. "Well, a lot of the things Mom and Dad taught me weren't things that the average grade school kid learned."

"When I told them I could speak six languages and write Hieratic, hieroglyphs, and Akkadian and Sumerian cuneiform, Kayla thought I was making it up."

The archeologist smiled again. "What did you do to convince her?"

"I said things in all the languages I know how to speak, and I wrote things in all the others."

Daniel gave a little laugh. "I bet that surprised them."

"Yeah." Danny lapsed into silence. He was afraid to tell Daniel that he messed up, but he knew that he should. He decided to wait until later.

When they arrived at the house, Danny stared at it much the same way Daniel had.

"It looks like _my_ house," he said softly, "where I lived with Mom and Dad when we weren't on a dig."

"I know." The moment Daniel had seen it, he'd been flooded with memories of the house his parents had owned. He had not spent a lot of time in that house since they were so often out on digs, but the memories he had of it were good ones.

They went inside, where Danny started pointing out all the differences between this house and the one in his memory. And then they went into the backyard.

"Wow. It's just the way our house was, with the big porch, and the tree, and everything!" Danny exclaimed excitedly.

"Well, there are some differences, but it is a lot like it, from what I remember. I think the yard is a little smaller."

"It looks bigger to me," Danny stated.

Daniel smiled. "You may be right. I'm a lot bigger now, so things look smaller."

As Danny explored the yard, Daniel went back out the front door, looking around. It was a quiet neighborhood, far enough from the congestion of the city to be peaceful, but close enough to be convenient for shopping. There was a school eight blocks away, so, if Daniel decided to put Danny in public school, he wouldn't have far to go. Best of all, there appeared to be lots of kids in the neighborhood that were around Danny's age. He could see them playing in the streets and in their yards. Daniel would have a bit farther to drive to work, but that was a fair trade-off for all the advantages living here would bring.

Danny came up beside him. He looked down at the boy.

"So, what do you think? Would you like to live here?"

Danny looked back in the house, then nodded. "I like it. It gives me good memories of Mom and Dad."

Daniel smiled. "Me too."

"When can we move in?"

"Well, first, I have to buy it."

"Does it cost a lot?"

"Yes, quite a bit, though I'm sure not nearly as much as a lot of other houses."

Danny now looked worried. "Will you have enough money? I have some in my piggy bank that I could give you." He then frowned. "Oh. That's right. I don't really have that money. It was yours when you were a little kid."

Daniel gave him a hug. "Thank you anyway for offering to give it to me, Danny. That was very generous of you. I don't have enough to pay for the whole house, but I can borrow what I don't have from the bank."

"Then we can move in?"

"Well, it might take a while. There is a lot of paperwork and other things to do first. I don't know exactly how long it will take. This is the first time I've bought a house."

"I wish we could move in today."

"Me too. But we just have to be patient."

Danny was so excited about the house that he had to call General Hammond as soon as they got home. Daniel smiled as he listened to the boy telling the general all about the place, calling the man Grandpa. In that moment, Daniel felt happier than he had since the day Apophis took Sha're. Only one thing could make it better. He wondered how Sam would like the house.

Trying not to let that thought dampen his mood, Daniel got on his cell phone and called Megan. The woman was delighted that he wanted the house and told him to come to the office in the morning so that they could get things started.

That's when he thought of something else. After ending the call, he went over to Danny, who was still on the phone with Hammond.

"Danny, I need to talk to him. Could I have the phone?" The boy handed him the receiver. "General Hammond, I just thought of something. Is everything set in regards to Danny, the marriage, divorce, and birth records? I'm going to need to get a loan for the house, and the bank may check on my history."

"Yes, Daniel. That's all been dealt with, as well as the falsified records regarding his mother. As you requested, her first name was recorded as Claire. The people taking care of everything went with the maiden name of Maxwell."

"Thank you. I wanted to give her the same first name as my mother since that's the one Danny is used, and it would be less likely that he'd make a mistake and give the wrong name."

"We'll have copies of Danny's fake birth certificate, as well as all the other papers, well before you'll be needing them. I'll call the ones in charge of this first thing in the morning and hurry the papers along."

"Thank you, sir."

"George."

"Sorry. Old habits die hard." Daniel smiled. "Will I still be calling you 'sir' when we're on duty?"

Hammond also smiled. "Well, I don't know. Now that Danny's calling me 'Grandpa', it wouldn't seem quite right to have you keep calling me 'sir'. You're practically a part of the family now. However, for the sake of propriety, I'd say that we should probably stick to 'sir' while on duty."

After hanging up, Daniel turned his attention to deciding what they'd have for dinner. Looking in the refrigerator, he decided that, to celebrate finding a house, they should go out to eat. He sat on the couch with Danny and the phone book so that they could pick a restaurant together. As he and Danny looked through the phone book together, it was no surprise that the boy gravitated toward the restaurants with the colorful display ads.

"What's that one?" he asked, pointing at a large half-page display ad.

"Oh, you wouldn't like that one, Danny. That's one of those fancy Italian restaurants, the kind you go to for romantic dinners."

Danny gazed at the ad with greater interest. "It is? Have you ever gone there?"

"No, I never had a reason to."

They finally managed to choose a restaurant, but Danny's mind was no longer on dinner. An idea had begun to form in his mind, one that he hoped would lead to _three_ people living in their new house.

Later that night, as Daniel tucked Danny into bed, the little boy decided that he needed to confess his mistake.

"Will you be mad at me if I tell you that I messed up?" he asked, not meeting Daniel's eyes.

"Messed up? How?"

Danny told him about what happened with Tessa and Kayla. "I'm sorry I messed up."

"It's okay, Danny. I understand why you did. I figured that you might mess up a little sometimes. It's going to take a while for you to get used to referring to me as your dad when we're around people who don't know the truth."

"Then you're not mad?"

Daniel gave him a smile. "No, I'm not mad. In fact, I'm very proud of you."

"You are? How come?"

"Because you told me about this. I bet you were afraid to, weren't you."

"Kind of," Danny admitted.

"Yet you did the right thing by being honest and telling me. That was a good and brave thing to do. Never be afraid to tell me something, Danny, because I'll be more disappointed in you if you don't tell me than in whatever it is that you did."

"Okay."

* * *

The next day, Daniel got his introduction into the not so wonderful process of buying a house. Of course, the first order of business was getting financing. That turned out not to be a big problem, though, not with the hefty down payment Daniel was providing, his good credit record, and his quite generous salary. The only problem in that regard was his record showing that he was listed as deceased during the time he was living on Abydos. Apparently, the fact that the military listed him as MIA for the year he was ascended wasn't in his credit history. Daniel was just glad that paperwork hadn't been filed on his presumed death when Nem kidnapped him on Oannes and made Jack, Sam and Teal'c believe he was dead. He probably had General Hammond to thank for that. Because of the fact that a young Hammond had met all of SG-1, including Daniel, back in 1969 when they time traveled back there, the general had reason to believe that Daniel wasn't really dead since the time traveling hadn't happened yet.

Danny did very well during the time that Daniel had to spend at the various places, though he was obviously bored. What Daniel found amusing – and somewhat embarrassing – is that the boy seemed like a magnet to nearly every female around. He lost count of how many women commented on how beautiful, cute, sweet, adorable, well-mannered, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, Danny was. The boy had scored quite a collection of lollipops and other candies, which was probably one of the reasons why he wasn't complaining about having to sit around so much.

What was even more embarrassing was how many women showed an interest in Daniel when they found out that he was a single father. He hadn't been hit on this many times throughout his entire life. What was it about women and single dads? Maybe they thought that if a guy was responsible enough to care for a child all by himself, he was good husband material. He would really be glad when all this was in the past.

That evening, Daniel decided that he didn't want to put Danny through another day like that and called Janet. Though the doctor couldn't watch Danny, Cassie was available to babysit. Deciding that Danny should meet the eighteen-year-old first, Daniel had her come over after dinner.

The girl greeted Daniel with a big hug. "How come I don't get to see you more?" she scolded.

"Sorry, Cass. You know how the job can be."

Cassie frowned. "You spend too much time working. That's what Jack says. You're just like Sam in that way."

Daniel smiled. "Guilty as charged, though that will be changing now that I have Danny."

The teenager looked at the boy, who was watching her from where he sat on the floor. She went toward him with a smile and sat on the floor beside him.

"Hi. My name's Cassie. I'm Janet's daughter."

"You're older than I thought," Danny commented.

"I'm eighteen."

The two of them talked for a while longer, then Cassie excused herself to use the bathroom.

Danny came over to where Daniel was sitting on the couch. "Does Cassie know the secret about me?" he asked in a whisper.

"Yes, she does. Janet told her."

"She knows I'm top secret?"

"Uh huh. Actually, Cassie is top secret, too."

Danny's eyes widened a little. "She is?"

"Yes, because she was born on another planet."

That made the boy's gaze grow even bigger. "She's an alien like Teal'c?"

"Not exactly. She's human, from one of the worlds that were populated by people from Earth."

"Oh. How long has she lived on Earth?"

"Since she was twelve."

"How come she's living here instead of where she came from? And how come Janet's her mom? Is Janet from another planet, too?"

"No, she's from Earth. You see, there was a . . . plague on Cassie's homeworld, which killed everyone except her."

"Everybody? Her mom and dad, too?"

"Yes."

"Then she's an orphan, like me."

"Yes, she is, but Janet adopted her so that she'd have a mom."

When Cassie came out of the bathroom, she was surprised with a hug from Danny.

"I'm sorry your mom and dad died," he said.

Cassie met Daniel's eyes for a moment, then gazed down at the boy. "Thank you, Danny. I'm sorry about your mom and dad, too."

"Mine really died a long time ago."

"Yes, I know."

"What was your planet like?"

Cassie spent the next half-hour telling Danny about the world she was born on, the ways that it was different from Earth and the ways it was the same. Not all that many years ago, it would have been hard for her to talk about it, but the years had dulled the pain, made it bearable to think about her family and friends and how they died.

Cassie had not known about the death of Daniel's parents until Janet told her when explaining about Danny. When she found out, she realized that she had a lot in common with this little boy and with the man whose DNA had created him. They shared the pain of witnessing the deaths of their family, something that would forever have an impact on their lives.

By the time Cassie left, she and Danny had become friends, the tragic loss in their lives and the secret of their origins creating a bond between them.

Daniel walked the teen out to her car.

"He is soooo adorable, Daniel," Cassie said. "I always figured that you were a cute kid."

Embarrassed, Daniel dipped his head.

"What time do you need me tomorrow?"

"My first appointment is at ten. How long can you stay?"

"I'm all yours for the whole day," Cassie replied.

"Thanks. That will give me a chance to take care of some other things between appointments."

"I think it's a really great thing that you're doing, Daniel. Not many single guys would be willing to take on the responsibility of caring for a child all by themselves, if they didn't have to." She lifted her finger. "And don't say you had to do this. You could have let somebody else take Danny. Mom told me that Jack offered to do it."

"Technically, no, I didn't _have_ to do it, and, yes, Jack offered, but I knew that I was the best one to do it because of what Danny's going through."

Cassie gave him a hug around the neck and a kiss on the cheek. "You are such a cool guy, Daniel. Too bad you're too old for me."

Shocked by the teenager's comment, Daniel could do nothing but gape at her as, with a girlish laugh and a little bat of her eyelashes, she got in her car and drove away.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Cassie had a ball babysitting Danny. The two of them got along famously and had lots of fun together. The teenager was amazed by how much information was already stored in the boy's head. She knew that Daniel was brilliant, but she hadn't realized how early in his life he had begun amassing the staggering amount of stuff he had in his brain. Actually, it made her a little jealous. She was no dummy, but she'd give a lot to have the level of memory retention that Daniel – and Danny – did. She considered herself lucky when she remembered everything for a test. She just hoped that she'd do all right in college. Her goal was to pursue a career in medicine, though she hadn't decided yet exactly what field.

Cassie couldn't babysit Danny the next day, so Daniel took the boy with him on his appointments. When they got back from the second one, they found a call from Jack on the answering machine. Daniel called the colonel and managed to get him in his office.

"Hi. You guys are back, huh?"

"Yep," Jack replied. "Got back this morning. So, how are things going with you and Mini-Daniel?"

"Pretty good, actually. We found a house."

"You did? That's great."

"You're going to love it. It's got a great big veranda in back, perfect for barbeques and get-togethers."

"Sweet."

"So, how did the mission go?"

Jack filled Daniel in on what happened, the sabotage to Warrick's ship, the unmentioned fact that there were no rules to the race, and it was not uncommon for people to get killed during one, Teal'c and Warrick's brother being held against their will by one of the men behind the sabotage, and Warrick not winning the race even after everything they went through, but managing to stop the guy in the race who was also a part of the sabotage.

"Sure wish you'd been there to help me negotiate with those guys about getting one of the ion drives."

"You got one, didn't you?"

"Yeah, we got one, in exchange for us helping them get a Stargate and make it work," Jack replied. "We have to give it back, of course, which doesn't seem quite fair to me. After all, they'll get to keep the Stargate."

"Yes, but we didn't build the Stargate. They did build the ion drive."

"I guess you've got a point there. So, what are your plans for tomorrow?"

"Besides more stuff to do with buying the house? Nothing specific."

"Good. We've got the weekend off and were thinking that we could spend it with you guys."

"That would be nice. I know that Danny would love it."

"Then it's a plan. How about if you two come over to my place tomorrow? We can have a barbeque."

"Sure, that would be fine."

That evening, the two Daniels were watching a rented movie when there was a knock on the door.

"Hey, Sam," Daniel greeted with a smile, letting her in.

"Sam!" Danny cried, running up to hug her. "I missed you."

Sam gave him a squeeze. "I missed you, too. The SGC just isn't the same without you there." She grinned. "I think Sergeant Harriman misses being a horse."

"We're gonna have a barbeque at Jack's house tomorrow. You and Teal'c are going to be there, too, right?"

"Yes, we sure are. The colonel told us all about it. And Janet can be there, too. Cassie as well."

"And Grandpa George?"

"_Grandpa_ George?"

"I'm his pretend grandson, now, so I get to call him Grandpa."

Sam smiled. "That's neat." Her smiled faded. "No, I'm afraid that he needs to work, Danny." Seeing the disappointment on his face, she added, "but I'll tell him that you're going to miss him. I'm sure that he'll be at the next barbeque. We usually have a really big one on the Fourth of July with lots of people from the SGC."

Danny frowned. "But there's already been a Fourth of July this year. It comes four days before my birthday."

Sam met Daniel's eyes. The archeologist hadn't thought about explaining the time difference in regards to the month, and Danny had apparently not noticed the date on the newspaper.

"Actually, it's only June, Danny," he explained.

"It is? So, does that mean that I'm going to get two birthdays this year?"

Daniel smiled. "No, I'm afraid not."

"Oh. Yeah. Because the birthday I remember didn't really happen. I keep forgetting that."

"Well, it did really happen, just thirty years ago."

"Do you remember what birthday presents you got?"

"Yes, I do." Because they were the last presents his parents gave him, they were gifts that he'd never forgotten, as were the last Christmas presents received from them.

This brought up an issue that he hadn't talked to Danny about yet.

"Um, Danny, since you weren't really born on July 8th, I decided that we should have a different birth date for you," he said. "I would have asked what date you'd like to have, but, when I had to make the decision, you didn't know that you were a clone. I picked February 28."

"Why?"

"Because, when you came out of the machine, you would have been a little over eight years and three months old, the same age I was when Mom and Dad died. You came out of the machine on either May 29th or 30th. I'm not sure which."

Danny frowned. "But that means that I won't have a real birthday this year."

"How about if, when we celebrate Daniel's birthday this year, we have a little celebration for yours, too?" Sam suggested. She looked at her best friend. "This birthday for Daniel is going to be a very special one for all of us."

"Why?"

The two adults shared a long gaze. Danny had no knowledge of Daniel's ascension, and it was unlikely that they'd ever tell him. Not only would it upset the boy to know that Daniel suffered and died that way, the concept of ascension and higher planes of existence might be too complex and confusing for him.

"I went away for a year, Danny," Daniel explained. "I was very far away, no longer on Earth. It hasn't been very long since I came back."

"We didn't get to celebrate his last birthday with him," Sam said, sounding a bit upset.

"And not Christmas either?" Danny asked.

Sam's eyes started stinging. "No, not Christmas either." She looked at Daniel. "We missed him very much."

Danny looked at the older version of himself. "How come you couldn't come back through the Stargate for Christmas and your birthday?"

"It's really hard to explain, Danny. It just wasn't possible."

Sam linked an arm with Daniel's. "But, now, we have him back, and we're going to have a really nice birthday party to celebrate it."

Daniel made a face. "Jack had better not take us to a restaurant and have the entire staff sing happy birthday to me."

Sam smiled. "I'll let him know that."

Sam stayed the rest of the evening with them, watching the remainder of the movie that they'd started. It happened to be the cartoon Atlantis, which amused Sam because the leading man was a linguist who wore glasses.

Danny told the major all about their new house, how it looked like the house that Daniel's parents had owned. Sam immediately guessed that was why Daniel picked it.

Since she was going to be staying a while longer, when Danny's bedtime came, Daniel decided it would be best for him to sleep in the bedroom. He let Sam tuck the boy into bed while he washed the dishes from dinner.

"Sam, you really like Daniel a lot, don't you?" Danny asked as the major pulled up the covers around him.

"Of course I do. He's my best friend, and I love him very much."

"Romantic love or just friendship love?"

Sam froze. A few weeks ago, she could have confidently answered that question with the reply that she and Daniel were just friends. But, now, everything had changed. She still didn't know how far these new feelings would develop, but she could no longer look at Daniel as just a friend. She could no longer say that's all she wanted from him.

"Uhhh, well, that's kind of a complicated question, Danny," Sam replied.

"Why is it complicated?"

Should she really be talking about this with an eight-year-old? Looking into Danny's wide, innocent eyes, she thought, _'Oh, what the heck? Why not?'_ "Because, though Daniel and I are friends, the best of friends, I also kind of feel other things for him that's more than friendship."

Danny wondered if it would be breaking his promise if he told Sam that Daniel loved her romantically. She would already know that they kissed, but Danny didn't think that Daniel had told her he was in love with her. The boy decided that he didn't want to take the chance that it would be breaking his promise.

"If you could be more than friends, would you want to be?" he asked.

Sam thought about her answer. "If it was possible, and there was nothing wrong with it, then, yes, I would like to be more than friends with Daniel. But I'm afraid it just wouldn't be a good idea, Danny." She looked at him intently. "You mustn't tell him or anybody else. It has to be a secret. Understand?"

Danny nodded. He was happy that Sam felt the same way about Daniel as Daniel did about her, but he still didn't know how he was going to make them get together.

Sam stayed with the boy until he fell asleep. When she looked up and turned around, she saw Daniel standing in the doorway, an expression in his eyes that made her breath catch, a look of such love and tenderness that it made her heart melt and ache all at the same time. God, she wanted to be with him so badly.

_'Stop it, Sam. Stop torturing yourself,'_ she chastised. _'You know that you can't have that, so just stop thinking about it. You were able to put it out of your mind most of the time when you had feelings like this for Jack, so you can do it again. You have no other choice.'_ The problem was that, this time, it seemed to hurt a whole lot more. But she was determined to succeed. She could do this.

"Hey," she said, not letting any of her emotions show.

"Hey. He didn't talk your ear off, did he? He's usually pretty good about going to bed, but, sometimes, he's a little chatterbox and doesn't want to go to sleep."

"Nope, he was fine."

"Not that I'm complaining. It's great that he's talking. It really shows how much better he's doing than I did this early on."

"How about the nightmares?" Sam asked.

"He still has them some nights, but they're a lot less intense. He's not waking up screaming anymore."

They walked out into the living room and sat on the couch.

"Any more incidences with the mind reading?" Sam asked.

"Not on Danny's side, that I know of, but. . . ."

Sam studied his expression as they sat down on the couch. "But what?"

"This morning, while we were eating breakfast, I got an image in my mind of making a smiley face on my pancakes with syrup."

Sam grinned. "A smiley face, huh? You're inner child coming out, Daniel?"

Daniel smiled, too. "I'm kind of doubting it."

"You think it came from Danny's mind?"

The archeologist nodded. "We already suspected that this thing worked both ways. I think this proves it."

"So, not only can Danny pick up thoughts from your mind, you can pick them up from his."

"Yeah. I just hope it doesn't start happening more often. Our thoughts are the one true privacy we have. If we lose that privacy. . . ." He didn't finish the statement. "And from how far away will this work? Will he sense my thoughts while I'm on another planet? If I was on a mission, and we got into trouble. . . ." Daniel shook his head. "I don't like the idea of Danny having a ringside seat into my head while we're fighting for our lives."

Deciding to put it out of his mind, Daniel changed the subject. "So, Jack told me about the mission." He smiled. "Did you enjoy the race?"

"Well, it was certainly exciting, especially when we had no engines and were being pulled into the gravity well of the sun." She frowned slightly.

Daniel immediately guessed the reason for it. "You're sorry that you lost, aren't you."

"Well, come on! It wasn't fair! Bunch of cheaters."

Daniel smiled at the comment. "So, what are you gonna do?"

Sam gave him a cheeky grin. "Next year, I'm gonna kick butt."

Daniel's own smile widened into a grin. "Yes, I bet you will."

"That is if the general lets me race again, of course."

"Maybe we can work in another diplomatic mission, see what other technology we can talk the Hebridans into sharing with us."

"That's an idea."

"Jack said that you got one of the ion drives to study."

"Yes, we did, which is very cool." Sam studied her friend's features. "So, how is the stuff with the house coming along? I bet you already feel like pulling your hair out with everything that's involved in buying a home."

"You're not kidding. I had no idea it was that involved. I should have gotten pointers from you and Jack."

"It is a hassle, and, by the time everything's done, you'll feel like you have a permanent case of writer's cramp from all the times you've signed your name, but that day the final papers are signed, and they give you the keys to your new house, you'll feel fantastic."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"How have things been going with you and Danny?"

"Fine, although, what with all this house stuff, it's been a little tough. I hated having to drag him along. It's not all that much fun, especially for an eight-year-old. General Hammond watched him on one day, Cassie on another, but I'm beginning to realize how tough being a single parent can be. I can't possibly put him in daycare, not until he's fully adjusted to everything and is a whole lot further along in his recovery. The same thing goes for a babysitter that doesn't know the whole story. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do when I go back to work. I really don't think that the military will allow Danny to stay on base during the day while I'm working."

"No, probably not. When I was toying with the idea of adopting Cassie, I thought about how it would affect everything, and I have to admit that it was a little daunting. The difference with Cassie, though, was that she was twelve, not eight, which made her a lot more capable of handling the changes in her life and the whole secrecy issue. And, being that old, it would have been okay to leave her at home alone sometimes. I have nothing but admiration for you and how you've accepted this responsibility. I can only imagine how overwhelming it must seem sometimes."

Daniel didn't reply right away. "There have been a couple of times when I wondered what the hell I was getting myself into," he admitted. "But I know that it's worth it. I feel like. . . ."

"Like what?" Sam prompted encouragingly.

"Like . . . I'm getting a second chance at a real childhood through him. He is getting what I never had after my parents' death: a stable life and people who love him. It makes me feel good that I can give him that, that _we_ can give him that."

Sam took Daniel's hand, entwining her fingers with his. Daniel looked down at their clasped hands, trying to ignore how good that simple touch felt. He ached to put his arms around her, to kiss her again, to make love to her.

If Daniel had known that, at that very moment, Sam was experiencing the same feeling, he might have done something about it. But he didn't, so, instead, he gave her hand a squeeze and got up from the couch.

He headed into the kitchen. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No, I really should get going." Sam rose from the sofa and headed for the door. "Oh, I was thinking that we might want to bring an alternate food source for tomorrow in case the colonel burns all the steaks and hamburgers again, like last time."

Daniel grinned. "Actually, I recall Teal'c saying that he intended to monitor the grill the next time we had a barbeque to make sure that didn't happen again." The smile faltered. "Oh, but that was before I ascended. What happened at the last barbeque?"

Sam's smile was completely gone. "There was no other barbeque, Daniel."

The archeologist stared at her. "What? What do you mean?"

"We didn't have any team barbeques while you were gone. The only barbeque was at the Fourth of July party, and the colonel didn't cook. In fact, he almost didn't go to it at all. The same goes for me and Teal'c. We weren't in much of a mood to celebrate anything. The colonel had too many beers, and General Hammond had to have somebody drive him home. Teal'c frowned throughout almost the whole thing, and I tried to stay as busy as I possibly could. Jonas was the only one of the four of us who had any fun, and I think that even his mood was doused because he could tell that we were upset, and he knew why."

Daniel's gaze was on the floor. "I didn't realize."

"Didn't realize what, Daniel? That we missed you like crazy all that time you were gone? That every holiday celebration was painful because it seemed wrong that you weren't there to celebrate with us? Christmas and your birthday were the worst. I stayed home and cried all day on your birthday, and I think the colonel got roaring drunk. He definitely looked like he had a hangover the next morning. None of us wanted to go to the Christmas party. We only did because Hammond insisted. I visited with my brother's family for Christmas, and they could tell that something was wrong. All I could tell them was that I'd lost a very good friend and co-worker," Sam's voice cracked a little, "not that he was my _best_ friend and that I watched him suffer a slow, awful death."

Daniel crossed the room to Sam's side. He wanted to hold her but decided it would be a bad idea. "I'm sorry, Sam," he murmured. "I didn't mean to hurt any of you."

Sam looked at him. "Didn't you realize how much it would hurt us when you left like that?"

Daniel's couldn't meet her eyes. "I . . . I guess I just figured that you'd miss me for a while and then move on."

Sam felt her anger kindle. "How could you think that? How could you not know how much it would hurt us? The colonel pretended it didn't, that you were just another casualty, but I could tell that it was all an act, just 'way of the warrior' crap. And Teal'c. In all the time we've known him, I've only seen him closer to crying one other time, when he thought that his wife and son had been killed in their home on Chulak. It hurt us, Daniel, and it makes me mad that you didn't think it would."

Feeling utterly ashamed, Daniel said, "I am so sorry, Sam. It's just . . . that last year or so I felt like . . . like we were drifting apart. Things between Jack and me weren't so good, and none of us spent much time with each other outside of work anymore. And on missions, I felt like. . . ." He halted. Now was not the time to talk about how he had no longer felt like he belonged on the team, that his skills and knowledge were no longer needed. "I just didn't want to think that it would hurt you guys like that. It was easier to leave believing that you'd all be fine without me."

"There were times when I was so mad at you for leaving," Sam told him. "And then I'd think about what your life would have been like if you had stayed and Dad couldn't heal you completely. I wouldn't have wanted that." She met his eyes. "I do know that you made the right decision, Daniel. It was just really hard going through that year without you. But you're right. It tears me up to admit it, but we did start drifting apart that last year or so, and I am so sorry for that. I'm so sorry if that's what made you believe it wouldn't matter all that much to us if you left." Tears filled Sam's eyes. "I wish I had known. I would have told you that it wasn't true, that we loved you."

Unable to stop himself, Daniel reached up and caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. As their eyes met, they both felt a jolt go through them, like they'd been hit with an emotional cattle prod. In the next instant, they were kissing hungrily, their heightened emotions fueling the fire. With a tortured groan, Daniel moved forward and pinned Sam up against the wall, his mouth never leaving hers. She arched against him, shattering his self-control. He grasped her hips and pulled them tight against his, the friction of their clothing sweet torment. Sam clutched at him, hooking a leg around his, the feeling of his aroused body against her more intoxicating than the strongest alcohol.

Daniel dragged his lips from Sam's and went on a search of her throat and the bare skin of her chest that her neckline revealed.

"Daniel," Sam moaned, tangling her fingers in his hair.

He pulled down the loose neckline and the strap of her bra, baring the upper curve of her breast, which he bathed with his tongue, wrenching a soft cry from Sam. Any thought that they shouldn't be doing this never came into Daniel's mind as he began inching the bra down further, following its progress with his mouth.

Sam gasped, then let out another moan, the feeling of his lips on her breast driving her crazy. She fought to clear the haze of desire and ecstasy. "We . . . we have to s-stop." Sam couldn't remember any words being harder to speak. But they couldn't do this. They just couldn't.

The words penetrated into Daniel's mind, and he lifted his head. The fire of passion in his eyes almost made Sam say to hell with it and let him make love to her, but she gathered her strength and stood firm.

And then the realization of what he was doing sunk in, and the passion changed to mortification. Daniel immediately released her and stumbled back several paces.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry, Sam."

Daniel fled into the kitchen. Hands gripping the edge of the counter, he leaned over the kitchen sink, eyes tightly shut and head bowed. _'Dammit!'_ he cursed in his mind, furious at himself for losing control like that.

Sorrow replacing the pleasure of moments ago, Sam said in a quiet, sad voice, "I'm sorry, too, Daniel. I wish. . . ." Feeling tears starting to come, she halted. "I'm . . . I'm going to go now."

Not waiting for Daniel to say goodbye, she quickly left. Once the door had closed behind her, Daniel buried his face in his hands, now feeling almost unbearably sad. Never in his life had he longed for something as deeply as he did for Sam. He knew that, if she hadn't put a stop to what just happened, he might have been incapable of stopping it himself.

Daniel went over to the couch and flopped onto it, laying his head on the backrest. How was he going to do this? How was he going to get back to that comfortable "just friends" place with Sam when, every time he looked at her, he thought about how badly he wanted them to be more, when, every time they touched, he wanted to pull her into his arms and show her how much he loved her?

How could he have fallen so hard so fast? Fast? He'd fallen in love with Sha're at first sight. With Sam, it had taken over six years to feel this way. No, it had taken over six years to wake _up_ to it. He was certain now that the beginning of these feelings happened a long time ago. He'd simply been blind to them, blind until, as an amnesiac, he'd gazed upon her for the first time without the memories of Sha're to cloud his vision.

But then, it really didn't matter, did it. Regardless of when it started, nothing could come of it. Even if they weren't teammates, it would be too dangerous for them to step across that line separating friends from lovers. He had wanted to believe that the two of them would be great together, that they'd both be happy, but there was no guarantee of that. What if they got together and things didn't work out? It could ruin their friendship. Daniel had seen it happen before, had, in fact, _lived_ it before. He and Sarah Gardner had been good friends before they became lovers. When their romantic relationship ended, so did their friendship. It wasn't long after their breakup that Daniel cut his ties with her, Steven and Doctor Jordan, so he didn't know if their friendship would have ever been repaired. He couldn't bear it if the same thing happened with Sam. He'd far rather just stay her friend for the rest of his life.

No, he and Sam needed to just stay friends. It was the safe and logical thing to do. But logic couldn't change what was in his heart. He had thought that he could handle this, just shove these feelings to the back of his mind and go on like before, but he was beginning to suspect that he'd been wrong, that he wasn't going to be able to handle this well at all. Which brought up one very important question. What the hell was he going to do?

* * *

As Sam drove home, she couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened. It had been amazing. For those few brief seconds, she had felt so vibrantly alive and so filled with pure, unadulterated desire that it had taken every scrap of willpower she possessed to stop it.

_'Dammit, Sam. You're supposed to be handling this,'_ she told herself. _'What did you just tell yourself not even half an hour ago? You're supposed to get him out of your mind like that and focus on just being his friend and teammate. Why can't you do that?' _

Angry at herself for what she perceived as a failure, Sam finished the drive to her house. She threw the keys and the mail from her mailbox on the coffee table and went to her computer to get her email. Having been gone for several days, she found quite a bit in her inbox, and she spent the next forty minutes going through it, deleting the spam and reading the stuff from friends and the various science groups and organizations to which she subscribed.

After that, she emailed back a few people then did a bit of dusting and straightening up. She checked the fridge to see what needed to be thrown away. Fortunately, she hadn't had many perishables. Sam knew that she was doing all these things in an effort to get her mind off Daniel. The problem was that she couldn't stay constantly busy every waking hour. Besides, it wasn't really working. Daniel was still right there, hovering like a ghost in the recesses of her mind, haunting her mercilessly.

Finally, Sam gave up and decided to go to bed. A good night's sleep might help. Yeah, right. Many of her nights recently had brought dreams of Daniel, of them making love, being together. It was driving her nuts and, worse, it made her very sad because they would never be more than dreams.

_'You are not in love with him. You are **not** in love with him!'_ she told herself over and over again, wanting so desperately to believe it. It was just sexual attraction and her feelings of loneliness over being alone. After all, it had been many years since she had a man in her life. That's all it was. That's all it _could_ be. If it was more . . . if it was more than that, she didn't know if she'd be able to deal with it. Why did this have to happen? Wasn't her life complicated enough already?

With a frustrated sigh, Sam got ready for bed, a part of her really not looking forward to tomorrow and how being around Daniel was going to mess with her heart.

* * *

Daniel had spent the last two hours doing stuff around the house, picking up the toys Danny left on the floor, taking care of some of the cleaning that he hadn't had time for during these days since he got home. But none of it was doing what he'd hoped it would, namely, get his mind off Sam and the question he'd asked himself after she left.

Feeling tired, Daniel made up his bed on the sofa. As he sat down, a thought occurred to him that this might be another good reason to transfer off SG-1. Not being on the same team, he'd see less of Sam, have less physical contact. Sure, they'd still see each other on base, still have occasional contact with each other during off-duty hours, but the less contact he had with her the better, at least until enough time had passed that he really could deal with these emotions of his, find the strength to love Sam as just a friend and forget that he wanted so much more.

Just then, Daniel heard Danny begin to whimper, a clear indication that the boy was having a nightmare. He went into the room and sat on the bed. As he began speaking to Danny soothingly, the child woke up and started to cry. Daniel held onto him.

"I don't ever want you to die," Danny sobbed. "Not ever."

Daniel closed his eyes, knowing that he could not give the boy what he wanted. Holding him tighter, Daniel soothed Danny until he slipped back into sleep.

After tucking the boy back in, Daniel returned to the couch. He turned off the light and laid down. He could not promise Danny that he'd never die, but he _could_ do what would reduce the risk to his life, what would also make the situation with Sam easier.

In the darkness of the room, Daniel came to his decision. He would leave SG-1, both for Danny's sake and for his and Sam's.


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Daniel sat in the lawn chair and watched his friends. Since arriving three hours ago, he'd tried very hard to get into the spirit of the day, and he thought that he'd managed to fool everyone into thinking he was fine. Even Danny, who almost seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to his moods, appeared to believe that he was okay. But he wasn't okay. Since making the decision last night to leave SG-1, he had been hurting. He knew that it was the right thing to do, right for Danny and the right way to deal with his feelings for Sam. But it still hurt.

Many times in the past, Daniel had made decisions and sacrifices that he didn't want to but had felt he needed to make. Some had saddened him, others he'd simply accepted as necessary. Many had put his life at risk, and a few had even ended up killing or nearly killing him. Compared to some of those decisions, the one he'd made last night wasn't nearly as momentous, yet it was hurting him far more than many of those others had.

The truth was that Daniel had thought about leaving before, not just the team but the entire program. After Sha're died, he'd considered it. The only thing that kept him from going was his wife's plea to find her son. After he found her baby and then had to give him up, he'd thought again about leaving, though, that time, he hadn't been as serious about it. Toward the end of that fifth year, when he was at such an emotional low point in his life, he had actually written out his resignation. It sat in his drawer for a week before he finally tore it up. A few days later, the accident on Kelowna happened, and he ended up leaving after all.

On each of those occasions, he had known that he would miss his teammates, miss going through the gate and the work he did at the SGC, but it hadn't hurt this much. Why was it so different now?

Daniel's eyes went to his clone, who was presently chasing Cassie around the backyard with a hose. Since Danny came into their lives, it felt as if the bonds between Daniel and his teammates had grown stronger, strengthened by the love they all shared for the little boy. They had laughed and played together as friends far more in these three weeks than he ever remembered them doing in an entire year. More than that, every one of his teammates had shown him so much support, being right there for him during the difficult times. Daniel had always looked upon Sam, Jack and Teal'c as his friends and, in time, he had come to think of them a little like family, but, now, it felt so much truer. They _were_ his family, and he was going to be saying goodbye to a part of what made it so.

But it wasn't like he'd never see Jack, Sam and Teal'c again. He'd still be working at the SGC. They'd still be his friends and spend time with him. Heck, with Danny in all their lives now, he'd probably see them more often outside of work than he did all the previous years combined.

But that didn't take away from the fact that he was going to miss stepping through the gate with them, miss that little thrill of excitement and anticipation he felt setting foot on an alien world, wondering what they'd discover. Those feelings had dimmed from what they were in the beginning, but they were still there. He'd miss being gathered around an off-world campfire with his teammates, the discussions that he and Sam often got into while walking to or from the Stargate, meeting a culture for the first time and knowing that his teammates trusted him to be their pointman, exploring the ruins of some ancient civilization while hearing Jack complain. He'd probably get to go through the Stargate on an occasional archeological mission, but Daniel knew that every time Jack, Sam and Teal'c went on a mission without him, a big part of him would wish that he was going, too. And he'd worry about what might happen to them.

But this is how it needed to be, and he had to accept that. And he would. In time, this pain would go away, and he'd be all right. It was just going to take a while. He simply had to focus on the positive things, like more or less regular work hours, actually being able to keep up with his workload, and, best of all, not spending nearly as much time in the infirmary. Those were all definite pros. The problem was that, right now, they felt outweighed by the cons.

Needing a moment alone, Daniel got up and went inside. He used the bathroom, then went into the kitchen for some water. He stood looking out the kitchen at the people he loved. At least there was one good thing about today. There had been no awkwardness between him and Sam. Daniel's thoughts were too much on his decision to leave SG-1 to think about what happened between them last night. He didn't know how Sam had put it out of her mind.

Daniel watched his friends as they had fun. Jack now had the hose and was gleefully pursuing both Cassie and Danny with it. Janet was watching from the sidelines, laughing, as the two young people suddenly decided to gang up on the colonel and tackled him. In the battle for the hose that ensued, all three of them got drenched. Teal'c had that little Jaffa smile that had only begun to appear these past few months, at least as far as Daniel knew. And Sam. . . . Where was Sam?

"Daniel?"

The archeologist started violently and spun around to see the astrophysicist standing not two yards away.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to startle you. I was wondering where you were."

"Oh. I . . . I was using the bathroom and getting some water."

"Ah." She smiled. "There's a pitched battle going on out there. I think the colonel may need reinforcements. Are the Super Soakers around here somewhere?"

"They're in Jack's closet."

Sam's smile widened. "Come on. Let's fill them up and help with the fighting."

Daniel knew that he should. A good water fight might snap him out of this depression. But he just couldn't, not right now. Maybe in a few minutes.

"You go on, Sam. I'll be out in a while."

Sam frowned. "Daniel, what's wrong? And please don't say 'nothing'. You're doing a good job of hiding it, but I can tell something is really bothering you." She was afraid it was about last night, and, to be honest, she really didn't want to talk about it, but if Daniel needed to, they would.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to ruin the mood of the day. I'll come on out and help you rescue Jack."

Daniel walked past her, heading for Jack's bedroom, but was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"Daniel, please tell me," Sam pleaded.

Daniel sighed. She and the rest of the team were going to have to know sooner or later. This wasn't really the right time, but there was no point in trying to put Sam off. He turned and met her eyes.

"I'm leaving SG-1, Sam."

Sam felt her heart make a hard, painful little thump inside her chest. Swallowing, she said, "I . . . I know we all talked about this before, what would be best for Danny, but. . . ."

"I made the decision last night. It's . . . the best thing for all of us."

"All of us? Daniel, what are you saying?"

Daniel's eyes fell away from hers. He didn't answer the question.

The pain inside grew as realization struck Sam a hard blow. "You're doing this because of us, aren't you, because of this thing that's been going on. Tell me the truth."

Daniel met her eyes. "You can't deny that it would be better, Sam. I can't ignore what I'm feeling for you. I've tried. I have tried so hard, but it just isn't working. What happened last night made that abundantly clear. If we're no longer teammates, we won't have to work together on missions while trying to deal with this. It will remove a lot of the stress. Yes, we'll still see each other at work sometimes and during off-duty hours, but not having to work together as teammates will make it all simpler."

Sam was trying very hard not to lose control of her emotions. Daniel was leaving the team because of her. Was he thinking that maybe, if they weren't teammates, they could have a relationship? That question no sooner entered her mind when Daniel answered it.

"I'm not doing this because I think that maybe we could pursue a relationship once I'm off the team," he said. "I know that, even if we aren't teammates, it probably wouldn't be a good idea for us to be involved. I know from personal experience what can happen when friends become . . . more, and it doesn't work out between them. I don't want to risk hurting our friendship, and I know that you wouldn't either. I just . . . I just can't pretend that I don't want more with you, and being on the same team makes it that much harder. But, even if it wasn't for that, I'd probably still have left, Sam. This will be much better for Danny. I've known that all along. I just couldn't get myself to make the decision until now. I need to do what's best for him."

Sam heard what he was saying about Danny, but she couldn't help but believe that what was going on between them is what spurred Daniel into making this decision now.

"Daniel, please don't do this because of me," she pleaded.

"It's not because of you, Sam, it's because of me. And . . . and it's because of Danny. I have to do what's right for him. He's what's most important. Please don't tell Jack and Teal'c. I need to be the one to tell them. And, for everyone's sake, they need to believe that it's only because of Danny."

With one last sad look at her, Daniel disappeared into Jack's bedroom. He came out a while later with the water guns. He filled them and went outside without another word. He walked up to Jack, who had completely lost control of the situation and was now being hunted by Danny and an evilly grinning Cassie, who was wielding the hose like it was a flamethrower. The fact that Janet and Teal'c were still dry was a miracle.

Braving the 'enemy fire', Daniel walked up to the colonel. "Here, Jack. I know you're lost without your P-90." He handed one of the guns to the man, who snatched it out of his hands eagerly.

"Yes! My man Daniel! I knew I could count on at least one of my team."

Jack didn't notice the pain that flashed through his friend's eyes as he quickly primed the weapon, swung around, and blasted Cassie. The teen screeched and shot back at Jack. Daniel hurriedly got out of the line of fire. He motioned to Danny, who came running over. Daniel handed the boy a gun.

"Here you go. It's only fair that you're armed, too."

"Thanks, Daniel. Are you going to play, too?"

"No, I'll just watch. You go on and play."

Danny ran off to rejoin the battle. Daniel went up to Teal'c and presented a water gun to him. The Jaffa inclined his head with a small smile and took it. Priming the weapon, he strode into the fray like he was off to do battle with a Goa'uld.

Seconds later, a dripping wet Cassie came running up. "Can I have one? They're way better than the hose."

Daniel handed one of the Super Soakers to her, and she ran back into the fight with a war cry. Daniel held out the last one to Janet, who held up her hands in refusal.

"Oh no. My survival instincts are too well-developed to get into _that_ fight."

Daniel put the water gun down and sat on a chair.

"You're not going to play?" the doctor asked.

"No. I'm just going to watch."

Janet stared at him piercingly. There was something off about him. "Daniel, are you all right?"

The archeologist didn't think that saying he was fine would cut it with the doctor. His stomach wasn't feeling the best in the world because of stress and emotional upset, so he decided to use that as an excuse. "My stomach's just a little queasy. Probably ate too much."

"I don't recall seeing you eat that much. In fact, you hardly seemed to eat at all." Janet's gaze narrowed. "Were you sick before you got here? You should have said something."

"No, I was fine, Janet. Really. It's nothing. You don't have to be a doctor today. I have no alien diseases, nor even any earthly ones."

Daniel turned back to the water fight, pretending not to notice the ocular dissection Janet was performing on him.

"Where's Sam?" the doctor asked a moment later.

"Um, I saw her in the house."

Just then, the major came out. She had been in the bathroom all that time, trying very hard to get control of herself and not start crying.

"Carter!" Jack called. "I need backup! Get in here before the enemy overwhelms my position!" The "enemy" – namely, Danny, Cassie and Teal'c – had him pinned down behind a tree.

The last thing Sam felt like doing was play with water guns, but she knew that, if she just sat around, it would be harder to pretend that nothing was wrong. So, she picked up the final water gun and joined Jack behind the tree.

Daniel watched his friends, trying to lift the sorrow in his heart. He wasn't going to lose this. He'd still have his friends. He might not see them at work as often, but they would still spend time together. They'd come over to see him and Danny, and he'd still be attending barbeques like this, even if he was no longer a member of the team.

Daniel wondered who Jack would get to replace him on SG-1. There were some good archeologists and linguists on staff, people who could also handle themselves in a fight. Maybe Sandburg or Reeves or. . . .

No, no, no. This wasn't helping, thinking about some other person taking his place on the team, bantering with Jack, discussing Goa'uld history and culture with Teal'c, working side-by-side with Sam.

Ruthlessly shoving all thoughts of work away, Daniel focused solely on the water battle. He noticed that Sam wasn't laughing like she should be, only cracking an occasional smile. He knew that she was upset and blaming herself for his decision. But it wasn't her fault. This was just something that had to be done. Even if this situation hadn't developed between them, he'd probably still have chosen to leave SG-1 for Danny's sake. His feelings for Sam had just made the decision even more practical. Ironically, they'd also made it more painful. If he hadn't fallen in love with her, if this decision had been made solely for Danny's sake, Daniel suspected that he'd feel better about it. It would still hurt, but he'd be satisfied that it was the right thing to do. Instead, though he still knew it was the right thing to do, it was making him ache inside. He didn't want to lose that teammate connection with Sam.

The water fight finally came to an end. The five soggy people came up to Daniel and Janet.

"You two look disgustingly dry," Jack stated. "How about if one of you gets us some towels so that I don't track water all through my house?"

Daniel started to get up, but Janet stopped him.

"I'll get them," she told him. "You just stay there and let your stomach settle. Would you like some antacids?"

"No, I'm okay," Daniel replied. "I'm feeling better."

"Feeling better from what?" Jack asked, frowning, as Janet went into the house to get the towels.

"My stomach was just a little upset, Jack," Daniel replied. "That's all. No big deal."

"You want some 7-Up or something? That usually helps."

Daniel decided to say yes just to keep the man off his back.

Since the 7-Up was in the house, Janet fetched it after she returned with the towels. Daniel sipped on it while the water warriors dried themselves off as well as they could. Among them, only Jack was in the position to change his clothes, so the others would have to put up with staying in their wet ones until they got home. Fortunately, it was quite a warm day, so they wouldn't get cold.

"That was fun," Danny said, grinning. Unlike the last water fight, he got equally as wet as everyone else.

"It sure was," Cassie agreed.

"So, which side won?" Daniel asked.

"Ours," replied everybody at the same time.

Jack looked at Danny, Teal'c and Cassie. "No way. You so did not win. Carter and I cleaned your clocks."

"I believe that you are mistaken, O'Neill," Teal'c intoned. "Our side was victorious."

"Yep. We whipped your butts," Cassie stated.

"Did not," Jack insisted.

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"Whoa!" Janet called. "How about if we call it a draw?"

The members of each side exchanged looks.

"In the interests of peace and the continuation of the ceasefire, we agree," Teal'c stated.

"Yeah, okay," Jack grumbled. He paused. "But you _so_ did not win."

"Did too!" Cassie instantly exclaimed.

"Children, children!" Janet shouted as Jack opened his mouth to respond. "Let's not turn this into a full-scale war. How about some cake instead?"

"Yeah!" Danny exclaimed.

Janet got the cake she'd brought and served a piece to everyone.

"Is your stomach settled enough for some cake?" she asked Daniel.

The archeologist really didn't feel like any dessert, but he didn't want to be a complete wet blanket. "Maybe a small piece." He noticed that, apparently, Sam had asked for a small piece, too, and didn't seem to be eating it with a lot of enthusiasm.

Jack noticed as well. "You feeling sick, too, Carter?"

"What? Uh, no. I just. . . ." Sam scrambled for an excuse. "What with all the desserts I've been eating lately, I put on a little weight. I don't want to get fat." She really had put on some weight, but it was only a pound, and she could work that off in the gym. But it was a good excuse for why she had no appetite for the cake.

"You're not fat," Danny piped up. "You're pretty."

Sam smiled at the little boy. "Why, thank you, Danny. That's sweet of you to say."

"We're going to have to get going," Daniel said after everyone had finished their dessert. "I've got an appointment with the realtor."

"Can't I stay with Uncle Jack instead?" Danny asked pleadingly.

"You need to ask him about that."

"He can stay, Daniel," Jack responded. "I can drop him off later. In fact, I'll even feed the little rug rat dinner."

"What's a rug rat?" Danny asked.

Jack leaned over and gave him a quick tickle. "You are!"

"Thanks, Jack. That'll help," Daniel said. He got to his feet. "Well, I'd better get going. Thanks for the barbeque. It was a nice break."

Jack rose to his feet. "I'll walk you to your car."

The two men went around the house to the front, the colonel glancing at the archeologist a few times.

"Daniel, are you sure you're okay. If you're hiding some illness from Fraiser, she'll skin you alive."

"I'm not sick, Jack. I swear. It's just been a tiring few days, what with searching for a house, then all the paperwork. I'll really be glad when it's over."

"I hear ya. Went through this myself, you know. Okay, well, try to relax more, although I know that can be hard with an eight-year-old in the house."

"I will."

Jack watched Daniel drive away, then went back to the others. Sam and Janet were cleaning up, while Danny and Cassie were busy drawing on some paper Jack had provided earlier. Teal'c was watching the two young people.

The women took the trash into the house and began straightening up the kitchen.

"So, would you like to tell me what's really wrong?" Janet unexpectedly asked Sam.

"What? I, uh . . . why do you think something's wrong?"

"Because, before you went into the house to find Daniel, you were laughing and smiling. Since you came back out, you haven't laughed even once and have barely smiled."

Sam gave a sad sigh. "He's leaving SG-1, Janet."

"What? You mean Daniel?"

Sam nodded. "He told me when we were in the house."

"Because of Danny," Janet guessed. "I know that he was thinking about it." Well, this definitely explained why Sam was so down. "I'm sorry, Sam. I know that you're going to miss him on the team."

"Throughout that whole year he was ascended, every time we went on a mission, I missed his presence. It just wasn't the same without him. I'm not saying that there was anything wrong with Jonas. . . ."

"He just wasn't Daniel."

Sam sighed again. "Yeah. It wasn't until Daniel was gone and we didn't have him there with us that I realized I had started taking him for granted. We _all_ did. And then he was gone."

"But this is so much different, Sam. Daniel won't be gone this time. He'll still be at the SGC, and he'll still be living here in town."

Sam wiped a finger across her eyes, drying the bit of moisture gathered there. "I know. I'm just being silly. It's getting near that time of the month, you know."

Janet stared at the other women. Sam had never before used PMS as an excuse for anything. There was definitely something more going on here. Apparently, though, it was something Sam wasn't willing to talk about with her. The doctor decided to back off.

"I'm assuming that the colonel and Teal'c don't know yet," she said.

"No, and don't say anything. Daniel wants to tell them."

Janet realized that this also explained the archeologist's mood. He probably hadn't had an upset stomach at all.

It was so sad that Daniel had to give up one thing he loved for the sake of something else, but she understood his reasoning. He'd be safer not going off-world, and Danny needed the security of knowing that the man who had taken the place of his parents wouldn't be killed on a mission. Of course, accidents still happened. Many more people in the U.S. died in car accidents in the span of a single day than throughout an entire year on SG missions.

The two women went back outside.

"I'm going to head off, too," Sam said. "I need to get some shopping and other things done."

Danny came up and gave Sam a hug. "Will you come over our house tomorrow? Uncle Jack says that you'll be on leave tomorrow, too."

"Um, no, Danny. I don't think I'll be able to. I'm sorry. I've got a whole lot of stuff to take care of."

Sam said goodbye to everyone and went home. She started making her shopping list, going through her cupboards and refrigerator to see what she needed. She was going through one cabinet when her eyes fell on the decorative tin of very expensive imported hot cocoa mix that Daniel had given to her on her last birthday. She pulled it off the shelf and gazed at it, fingers running over the cool metal. The pain welled up inside her and spilled over, along with her tears.

Oh, God. She was in love with him. She had fallen utterly, hopelessly in love with her best friend. How could this have happened? What was she going to do?

Sam went into the living room and curled up on the couch, hugging a throw pillow. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't she have fallen for some guy she met at the supermarket? Because some guy at the supermarket wouldn't be half the man Daniel was. He was the most wonderful guy she'd ever met. It was no mystery why a woman would fall for him. But why did _she_ have to?

Did Daniel feel the same way about her or was it just physical attraction for him? She didn't want to know. If he loved her, too, it would only make this more painful. Daniel was right. Even if they were no longer teammates, getting into a relationship would be a bad idea. If it didn't work out, it could put a strain on their friendship. But she wanted to be with him, to be a part of the family he now had with Danny.

Her tears coming even harder, Sam closed her eyes and let them fall.

* * *

By the time Jack brought Danny home, Daniel had complete control of his emotions and was able to chat with his friend without giving the tiniest hint that anything was wrong.

Danny was almost asleep on his feet, so he was taken off to bed. Jack volunteered to get him dressed and tucked in.

"So, what are tomorrow's plans?" Jack asked after he came back out. "It's Sunday, so I know you don't have any appointments."

"Actually, we're just going to hang around the house and relax. Well, _I'm_ going to relax. Danny will be probably play. I wish I had that much energy."

"_Every_ adult wishes they had that much energy. You want me to take him for a while?"

"Don't you have things to do?"

"Yeah, some shopping, house cleaning, bills to mail, stuff like that. Shouldn't take more than a few hours. I can get it done in the morning, then pick Danny up afterwards, maybe take him to the rink and teach him how to ice skate."

Daniel shook his head in amusement. "You're bound and determined to make him like hockey, aren't you."

"You bet. Carter won't go to a game with me, and Teal'c's no fun because he won't yell at the referee and the players. I want someone to go with who appreciates the game and will yell at the top of his lungs along with everyone else."

"Okay, if you're sure you can spare the time."

"Of course I can, Daniel. Then you can get some sleep or something. You look tired."

Daniel hadn't slept well last night, and he was feeling a little drug out. He didn't expect to sleep well tonight either, so he would probably be even more in need of rest tomorrow.

"I'll pick Danny up after lunch, okay?" Jack said.

"Okay. Thanks, Jack."

As promised, Jack arrived at one o'clock to pick Danny up. He was concerned when he noticed that Daniel looked even more tired than he had last night. Jack was worried that his friend really was sick and was too stubborn to admit it to anyone. But, no, if Daniel thought that he was ill, he'd do something about it. He wouldn't take the chance of giving some bug to Danny. So, something else was the problem. The man did have a lot to think and worry about. His life had gone through a great deal of upheavals and changes lately. It would be enough to overwhelm anyone. The guy was probably just worrying excessively about it all and not getting enough sleep. Jack was glad that he was taking Danny for the afternoon. It would give Daniel a chance to rest.

After Jack and Danny left, Daniel did some stuff around the house, then decided to lie down. Just as he had expected, he hadn't gotten much sleep again last night, and he was exhausted. Between Danny's nightmares, his own dreams, and all his worries and heartaches, he hadn't gotten a full night's sleep in over three weeks, and it was really starting to get to him.

Daniel kicked off his shoes and laid on the bed with a weary sigh. It wasn't long before he was asleep.

_Daniel looked at the dozens of natives in the distance. Armed with spears, the natives stood watching SG-1. They showed no outward hostility, but neither were they acting friendly. _

_"Jack, I know this culture," Daniel said. "They don't react well to strangers, and I'm worried about how they'll respond. I'm familiar with their language, so I can talk to them, let them know that we're friends." _

_Jack did not reply. In fact, it was as if he hadn't even heard Daniel. "Okay, Carter, Teal'c, let's go make nice with the natives. I sure wish we had Daniel with us right now." _

_Daniel stared at him. "I'm right here, Jack. Can't you see me? Listen to me. We need to be careful." _

_Still not hearing him, Jack walked forward – right through Daniel. That's when the archeologist realized that he wasn't really there. He was no longer on the team, and his friends were going into this without him. _

_"No!" he yelled. "Jack, Sam, Teal'c, you have to hear me! Don't go over there!" _

_Deaf to his cries, the three members of SG-1 walked up to the natives. Moments later, they were under attack. Though they fought bravely, they were soon overwhelmed. Daniel saw Jack die first, and then Teal'c, and, finally, Sam, a spear buried in her back. _

_"Noooo!" he screamed. _

Still in the throes of the nightmare, Daniel sat straight up and scrambled out of the bed. He tripped on his shoes and fell, hitting his head on a nearby table. The searing pain woke him up. Stunned and confused, Daniel reached for the place where he'd struck his head. He felt wetness and pulled back his fingers to see them coated in blood.

Great. Just great. Now, he was going to have to take a trip to the infirmary, and Janet was not going to be at all happy.

Daniel tried to stand up, but quickly ended up back on the floor as dizziness assailed him. Whoa. Okay, bad idea. Crap. He probably had a concussion. This was all he needed.

Daniel closed his eyes and waited for the dizziness to pass, not looking forward to the call he would have to make.

* * *

Jack led Danny into the building and down to where the ice rink was. The boy looked around at all the skaters in fascination. Having spent most of his life in hot climates, he'd never seen ice skating in person, only on TV.

"So, what do you think?" Jack asked. "You wanna give it a try? Now, I'll warn you. You'll probably fall a few times before you get the hang of it. You wouldn't believe how may times I fell on my behind when I was first learning how to ice skate. I was black and blue for weeks. But I loved it anyway."

"Are you going to skate, too?"

"Ah, I'd love to, but these old knees of mine can't take much of that kind of punishment anymore. But I will be strapping on a pair of blades so that I can help you keep your balance. So, shall I go get some skates for us?"

Danny was just about to say yes when he suddenly froze. His eyes widened into a scared look.

Jack grasped his arms. "Danny, what's wrong?"

"Daniel's hurt! Daniel's hurt, Uncle Jack!" the boy cried. Then he was running out of the rink. Cursing, Jack ran after him.

When he got to the parking lot, the boy was at Jack's car, pulling on the door handle frantically.

"We have to help him!" Danny exclaimed.

Jack didn't know what was going on, but Danny seemed positive that something had happened to Daniel. Jack hoped that the boy was wrong, but he feared that Danny was right. Something had happened, and the telepathic link between Daniel and his clone had sent a warning to the child.

All Jack could hope now was that Daniel wasn't seriously injured. 


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Jack and Danny hurried back to Daniel's house. The boy was unbuckling his seatbelt even as the car came to a stop in front of the house. The two ran up the walkway and into the house.

"Daniel!" Jack yelled, not seeing the archeologist. Danny headed straight to the bedroom. Not questioning the boy's instincts, Jack followed him. They rushed into the bedroom and. . . .

"Crap," Jack cursed. Daniel was sitting on the floor, his back against the bed, blood trickling down the side of his face. He was very pale, and his eyes were closed.

"Daniel!" Danny screamed, lunging forward, Jack only barely managing to stop him.

Daniel's eyes fluttered open, and he looked at the two of them with slightly unfocused eyes. "Danny? Jack?"

The struggling boy broke free of Jack's grasp and was across the distant in an instant. He grabbed Daniel's arm, crying.

"You're hurt. You're hurt," he sobbed.

"Just . . . just a little bit, Danny," Daniel told the distraught boy, though his head was killing him. "Fell out of the bed and clunked my head. I'll be all right."

"I'll call Fraiser," Jack said after getting a cloth for Daniel to press on the wound. He figured that the archeologist was probably right about it not being serious, but you needed to be careful with head injuries. They could be more serious than they first appeared. Besides, the doc would string Jack up by his most tender parts if he didn't call her.

"Are there any indications that it's more than a concussion, Colonel?" the doctor asked after he told her what happened and let her know that Daniel was conscious and lucid.

"Not that I see, but you know I'm no expert."

"All right, if it's just a concussion, you shouldn't have to take him to the hospital. Go ahead and bring him here."

When Jack got off the phone, he saw that Danny had his arms around Daniel's waist, his face pressed into the man's chest. Daniel had an arm loosely draped over the boy's body and was murmuring something in what sounded like Arabic. Jack knew some of the language from his days in the Middle East and caught enough words to know that the archeologist was trying to soothe the boy.

Jack knelt by the two. "Come on, Daniel. We need to get you to the infirmary. Fraiser's all ready for you, needles and all."

"Oh, wonderful," the younger man muttered.

Jack put a hand on Danny's back. "Danny? Come on. We need to get Daniel to Janet so that she can fix him all up."

As soon as Danny let go of Daniel, Jack got the archeologist's shoes on and helped him to his feet. The man swayed and would probably have fallen if Jack hadn't been holding him.

They'd made it out of the bedroom and halfway across the living room when Daniel abruptly went white.

"Oh, God. I'm going to be sick," he groaned.

As quickly as he could, Jack got him to the closest place where he could be sick without making a mess, which turned out to be the kitchen. They'd just barely made it to the sink when Daniel threw up.

Instead of Danny being grossed out by the sight, he got even more scared. He was terrified that Daniel was hurt really badly and was going to die.

Jack was supporting quite a bit of Daniel's weight by the time the archeologist's vomiting had stopped.

"I hate concussions," Daniel mumbled miserably as he tried to spit out the foul taste in his mouth.

"I know exactly what you mean."

Jack managed to pour Daniel some water without letting him go, and the archeologist rinsed out his mouth.

"You ready?" Jack asked.

"Yeah."

They got Daniel in the car and strapped in. Danny wanted to sit beside him, but Jack insisted that he had to sit in back in the booster seat he'd purchased for the boy.

Daniel kept his eyes closed throughout most of the trip, trying not to make any sound as every bump in the road made the pain in his head worse. He was going to be sick again if they didn't get there soon.

At last, they arrived. There was a corpsman with a wheelchair waiting for them. Janet had given orders that Daniel and the others were not to be stopped at the checkpoints, so they breezed straight through.

As soon as they were in the infirmary, Janet was kneeling before Daniel. "Boy, you sure can't stay away from this place, can you," she said gently.

"It's not by choice, Janet, I assure you."

"Okay, let's get you up on the table."

Normally, Janet would have asked Jack to take Danny outside to wait, but when she saw the terror in the boy's eyes, she knew that he needed to stay.

The doctor's initial exam confirmed a diagnosis of a concussion, Grade 2, if Daniel was right about not having lost consciousness at all. She ordered an x-ray so that they could make sure there wasn't a skull fracture.

As Daniel was wheeled off to get the x-ray, Janet walked up to the two people who were waiting.

"So, what's the verdict, Doc?" Jack asked.

"Grade 2 concussion, I'd say. We're getting x-rays to make sure there are no fractures. I'll keep him here overnight for observation. If he's okay in the morning, he can go home."

"H-he's not going to die?" Danny asked.

Janet knelt before him, taking his hands and smiling tenderly. "No, he's not going to die, Danny. He's going to be just fine."

Danny threw his arms around her neck. Janet felt the tremor in his little body and held him close.

The x-rays came back clean, and, once the wound in his scalp was cleaned and stitched, Daniel was put in a private room so that Danny could stay in there with him. When Jack brought the boy in, they found that Daniel was sleeping.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to keep people with concussions awake?" Jack asked Janet.

"Did we ever keep you awake when you had one?"

"Um, no, you didn't."

"That whole thing is just a myth, Colonel. In some cases, doctors do recommend that you wake the person every two hours to make sure that their condition isn't deteriorating, but I see no reason to do that in this case. Besides, we'd probably have to give him an injection of caffeine straight into his veins to wake him up. He's exhausted."

"Yeah, I don't think he's been getting much sleep lately."

"Well, he'll have plenty of time to sleep the rest of today and tonight. He's not going anywhere."

Danny wanted to get on the bed with Daniel, but he didn't want to wake the archeologist, so, instead, he got one of the chairs, put it as close to the bed as he could, and sat in it, gently taking Daniel's lax hand in his. He laid his head on the man's arm.

The gesture of a child's love made both Jack's and Janet's heart ache a little.

"I'd better let Carter and Teal'c know what happened," Jack said. First, he went to the Jaffa's quarters. Teal'c was concerned, but glad to hear that it wasn't anything serious. He said that he'd go visit Daniel later, after the archeologist had awakened.

Jack then called Sam's cell phone.

"Hey, Colonel. What's up?" Sam asked.

"Daniel's had a little accident, I'm afraid."

Sam's voice instantly turned anxious. "What? What happened? How is he?"

"He fell and hit his head. He's got a concussion, but Fraiser thinks he'll be fine. He's in the infirmary."

"Oh no. What about Danny?"

"He's here, too, watching over Daniel at the moment. The poor kid almost freaked out. He was afraid Daniel was going to die."

"That poor little boy."

"Carter . . . he knew."

"What?"

"Danny and I were miles away when the accident happened, but he knew. He sensed that Daniel had gotten hurt."

"Holy Hannah. You think it was this telepathic link?"

"I'd say so."

"Sir . . . what would happen if Daniel was ever seriously hurt?"

"I don't know, and I really don't want to think about it."

"I'll be there as soon as I can, sir."

"That's not necessary, Carter. Daniel's asleep right now and probably will be for the next few hours. Danny's in the room with him."

"I'm still coming, Colonel."

Jack smiled slightly, not really surprised by her statement. "Okay. They've got Daniel in one of the private rooms."

"I'll see you in a while, sir."

Sam disconnected the call and calmed her nerves. When Jack said that Daniel had an accident, her heart had gone up into her throat. Thank goodness it wasn't anything serious.

The major quickly finished the shopping she had been in the midst of doing and took the groceries home. Once they were put away, she headed to the SGC. Since she was off-duty, she didn't bother changing clothes before going to the infirmary. As she entered the room, her eyes immediately went to Daniel. He was asleep, his face pale, but not terribly so. There was a bandage on the left side of his head. Danny was right at Daniel's side, his small hand resting upon Daniel's large one, his eyes glued to the man's face. Jack was in another chair a few feet away.

"Hey, Carter," Jack greeted.

Danny turned and looked at her. Seeing the expression on the boy's face, Sam quickly walked over to him, knelt down, and pulled him into a tight hug.

"I thought he was going to die," Danny whispered, starting to cry.

"I know, sweetheart. But Daniel's going to be fine. He may have a headache for a while, but I'm sure he'll be all better by morning."

Sam gathered Danny up into her arms and sat on the chair with him in her lap. Her eyes returned to Daniel. It always hurt to see him lying on a bed in the infirmary, but it hurt even more now, even though she knew that his injury wasn't serious this time.

"I'm guessing that you're going to be here a while," Jack said, standing up.

"Yes, sir."

"I'm going to go take care of some things, then. If, by chance, he wakes up, let me know."

"I will, sir."

There was silence in the room for a little while.

"I knew Daniel got hurt even though me and Uncle Jack were far away," Danny told her.

"Yes, that's what the colonel said. Did you feel his pain?" God, she hoped not.

"No. It just came into my head that he was hurt. And I kind of saw a picture of his hand, and it had blood all over it."

The announcement surprised Sam. So, not only had Danny picked up on Daniel's thoughts, he'd also seen through Daniel's eyes. Holy Hannah, what would this mean if the kid ever got a look through Daniel's eyes while they were in a firefight off-world? Of course, it was very possible that this connection wouldn't work over that great a distance. She sure hoped it didn't.

That's when she remembered quite forcefully that Daniel would no longer be going through the gate on missions, at least not those kinds of missions. His only gate travel would be on the occasional archeological and perhaps diplomatic mission. How did he feel about that? She knew that it would hurt her to give it up. Of course, Daniel wasn't a soldier, so he certainly wouldn't miss the fighting, but he would miss the exploration. He would no longer be the one to approach and make first contact with some newly discovered culture, his mind attempting to puzzle out where in Earth's history the inhabitant's ancestors had originated. He would never again be the first to set foot in the ruins of an alien civilization.

Sam thought about the missions they'd gone on since Daniel returned from ascension. His presence had made the different between success and failure more than once. Even with his memory mostly gone, his ability to read the Ancient language had been invaluable in their fight against Anubis. If he hadn't been with them on P3X-289 and found that book among the old records, Pallan wouldn't have been convinced to turn off the mental link between his people and the computer that had been killing them one by one and erasing their existence from the minds of the others. And, most recently, if Daniel had not gone to P3X-403, it was very likely that everyone there would have been killed by the Unas.

And that was only what had happened during these months since his return. Before then, Sam couldn't count how many times the success of a mission had been because of Daniel. And, now, yet again, SG-1 was going to lose him.

"What's wrong?"

The childish voice brought the major out of her thoughts. She looked at Danny. "Hmm?"

"You looked sad," he informed her.

"Oh. I was just thinking about something."

"What?"

"Something that I shouldn't have been thinking about. Adults do that a lot. We worry about stuff and think about bad things."

Danny was silent for a few seconds. "I think about bad things, too."

Sam looked into his eyes. "Like what?"

Danny's gaze dropped from hers to a spot on her shirt. "Like how Mom and Dad died, and . . . and Daniel dying, and . . . being all alone like Daniel was when Mom and Dad really died."

"Hey. Didn't Daniel tell you that you'd never be alone?"

Danny nodded.

"Well, that's the truth. No matter what happens, there will _always_ be someone to love and take care of you. That is a promise."

Sam hugged the boy close. It wasn't right for someone so young to have those kinds of fears. Danny should be a carefree little boy whose only thoughts were on play, and school, and his friends. He shouldn't be thinking about death and being left all alone. What was equally as sad is that the eight-year-old Daniel most likely had these same thoughts about death and being alone, except that, for him, they would have been based on the reality of his life.

"You look sad again," Danny said, frowning.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'll try to think happy thoughts. Maybe we can play a game."

"Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about 'I Spy'? You ever play that?"

"Uh huh. It's really fun in Egypt."

"Well, I'm afraid that this room isn't as exciting as Egypt, but it'll have to do."

They began to play the game, which turned out to be pretty challenging in the room since there was not a whole lot to "spy" that wasn't a piece of equipment Danny wouldn't be able to name.

After about twenty minutes, they were struggling for objects to use.

"I spy something that . . ." Sam looked around, "starts with an 'F'."

"How about a formerly sleeping archeologist?" asked a voice from the bed.

Danny's and Sam's heads spun around to face the person who asked the question.

"Daniel!" they both exclaimed. Danny jumped off Sam's lab and climbed up onto the bed to hug the man. Daniel wrapped his arms around the boy.

"I'm sorry, Daniel," Sam said apologetically. "We didn't mean to wake you."

"That's okay." He looked at her. "What are you doing here? This is supposed to be your day off."

"I'm here because somebody I care about was hurt, and I wanted to be with him," Sam replied.

Daniel's eyes searched hers intently. "Thank you. And thank you for watching Danny."

At that moment, Jack came in. "Well, if that isn't perfect timing. Didn't think you'd be awake yet. How's the head?"

"How do you think?" Daniel replied.

"Gotcha. Concussions aren't any fun. Just be glad you didn't crack that skull of yours. But then, that's really no surprise. It would take more than a bump on the head to penetrate _that_ skull."

Daniel's head hurt too much for him to think up a retort.

"Janet will to want to know that you're awake," Sam said. She pressed the call button, and a nurse came in a moment later. Sam told her to get Janet.

When she arrived, the doctor checked Daniel out, testing a few things and asking the usual round of questions. She was satisfied with the results and got him some Tylenol for the headache. Then she returned to the main ward.

Everyone kept the conversation light – and at a low volume – until the pills had taken effect. Teal'c had been told that Daniel was awake and was now with them.

"By the way, why did you guys come back so early?" Daniel asked Jack. "I thought you were taking Danny skating." He noticed the quick look that passed between Jack and Sam. "What?"

"Maybe _you_ should tell him, Danny," the colonel said.

"We were at the ice skating rink, and, all of a sudden, I knew that you got hurt," Danny told the man in the bed.

Daniel stared at him, stunned. "You did?" An expression of horror filled his face. "Did you feel my pain?"

"No, I just knew you were hurt, and I saw your hand."

"You what?" Daniel and Jack asked simultaneously.

"It was all bloody."

"I think that Danny was actually seeing through Daniel's eyes for a moment," Sam explained.

"Oh, that's just wonderful," Jack responded sarcastically. Now the kid was seeing what Daniel was? There were some people in the upper echelons of the program who would not be happy about this. He could hear them now, talking about a child getting a view of classified documents and mission reports. Crap. What about when they were on missions? They'd better all pray that this telepathic thing didn't work from that far away.

It wasn't long before Daniel started getting tired again. Though Danny wanted to stay with him, the others convinced him that they needed to let Daniel sleep undisturbed.

The other three members of SG-1 decided to take Danny into town. While they were driving around, the boy spotted a miniature golf course, and they all decided to play a round, mostly to get Danny's mind off the fright he'd had. His somewhat subdued manner was a clear indication that Daniel's injury had resurrected the child's fears and his thoughts about his parents' death. It would probably be a long time before Danny recovered quickly from things like this. Until then, anything that illustrated the mortality of someone he cared about would be more traumatic to him than to the average child his age.

After the game, everyone returned to the SGC. They checked on Daniel and found that he was still sleeping.

Jack decided that the best thing to do would be to take Danny home with him for the night, though Danny wanted to stay on the base and close to Daniel. They went to Daniel's place and got a change of clothes for the boy.

For the rest of the day, Jack devoted himself to perking up Danny's mood and had some success. That night, however, as Jack headed for his bedroom, the sound of a terrified scream had him running for the guest room. Danny was crying for his parents and for Daniel. Jack gathered him up into his arms.

"Shh, Danny. It's a bad dream, just a bad dream. Come on, Danny. Wake up."

The boy finally aroused from the nightmare. He started sobbing.

"It fell, and Daniel tried to s-stop it, and it fell on him, too, and he d-died with Mom and Dad, a-a-and there was b-blood all over!" he wailed.

Crap. No wonder the kid was a mess. "That didn't happen, Danny. Daniel is alive. He's okay."

"I want Daniel."

"Okay, Danny. I'll go take you to him."

Jack got the boy dressed, and they drove to the SGC. The guards on duty at the checkpoints were surprised to see them at that time of night, but didn't say anything. Janet, however, did.

"Colonel? What are you two doing here? I was just getting off-duty."

"Danny needs to make sure that Daniel's all right."

"What?"

"I'll explain later."

Jack led the boy to Daniel's room and opened the door so that Danny could look inside. Looking inside wasn't enough for the boy, however, and he slipped through the door, walking up to the bed. Apparently, Daniel had been only dozing because he woke up, blinking a little blearily at the boy.

"What. . . . Danny? What are you doing here?"

Not replying, the child climbed onto the bed and wrapped his arms around Daniel's neck, burying his face into the crook of the man's shoulder. Daniel realized that he was crying.

"Danny, what's wrong?" When the boy didn't answer, he looked at Jack.

"He had a nightmare, Daniel. He dreamt that you tried to save his parents and died with them."

Damn. Daniel held the boy close. "It's okay, Danny. I'm all right." He tried to look at the boy's face. "Do you want to sleep with me tonight?"

Danny nodded, still clinging to him.

"Okay. Let's get your shoes and pants off so that you're more comfortable. You can sleep in your shorts and shirt."

Jack undressed the boy, who then crawled under the covers and snuggled up against Daniel.

"You'll be all right?" Jack asked the archeologist.

"We'll be fine. Thanks."

Back out in the main ward, Jack told Janet more about the dream.

"I guess we shouldn't be surprised that this happened," she said. "Obviously, it was triggered by Daniel's accident. Danny has bonded very closely with him. In many ways, Daniel has become both his mother and father."

"And seeing Daniel hurt like that brought all the stuff about his parents right back fresh into his mind," Jack surmised, "but with a really nasty added twist."

"I'm afraid so. The fear of Daniel dying is going to be very strong in Danny for quite some time."

"Is there anything we can do?" Jack asked.

"Short of getting him counseling with a child psychologist, not really, except to make him feel as safe and secure as possible."

"Janet, if getting Danny counseling is the best thing for him, I'll try to get permission to have a child psychologist given clearance."

"It's possible that it could help, but there are no guarantees. Danny's situation is such a unique case. He knows that the memories he has are something that he didn't actually witness, that they took place decades ago, but another part of his mind is telling him that he _did_ see it, that it happened just a few weeks ago."

Jack nodded. "He keeps referring to things that he really didn't experience as something that he did."

"That's understandable. Being told that the memories you have aren't really yours would be a difficult thing for anyone to fully assimilate, particularly a child. Your mind is going to keep telling you that what's in your memories is something that you really experienced, which, in this case, is really too bad. If Danny could fully accept, both mentally and emotionally, that the death of Claire and Melburn Jackson was not something that happened in his life, it would dramatically accelerate his recovery. That, unfortunately, is something that could take years. It may be that he will never quite get that fully resolved in his mind."

"I'll talk to Hammond in the morning and see about getting somebody with the right qualifications clearance."

"Sir, I don't know if Daniel would agree to it, but I think that the very best approach would be for Danny and Daniel to be counseled together. Daniel has those memories, too, but his perspective is different because, first of all, it really did happen to him and, secondly, it drastically changed his life for the worst. Having Daniel there, talking about his experiences and how he felt about it all, _still_ feels about it all, may be beneficial to Danny. And I think that it might help Daniel, too. I should imagine that this whole thing has really unearthed all those feelings he had during that time. They could support each other through the counseling."

"You're probably right, but, if I know Daniel, he's not going to want to talk to a psychologist about himself. Ever since MacKenzie misdiagnosed him and threw him into that padded room, he hasn't had a lot of trust for the psychiatric profession. He dreads the yearly psych evaluations we all have to have."

Janet didn't reply. She still bore the weight of guilt over the part she played in Daniel's commitment to Mental Health, and she always would.

Jack looked at his watch. "Well, if I don't get going, I'm not going to get enough beauty sleep. I'll talk to Hammond first thing in the morning and see what he says." 


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Daniel cracked his eyes open and looked down at the sleeping child sprawled across him and the bed. Danny was a restless sleeper, which hadn't been a big problem in the queen-size bed in their quarters, but made for a rather rough night for Daniel in the much smaller hospital bed. He'd gotten hit in the face more than once by a little hand, and, at one point, Danny had been sleeping completely sideways on the bed, his legs draped over Daniel's chest. The archeologist was glad that he'd gotten lots of sleep during the previous afternoon, because he sure didn't during the night.

Extricating himself from the tangle of arms and legs that was his clone, he got up and used the bathroom, happy that his concussion symptoms were mostly gone. He took a quick shower and got dressed. He was just about to wake Danny when there was a knock on the door, and Major Dunstan, the leader of SG-21, stuck his head in.

"Hey, Daniel. I heard about what happened." The man grinned. "You know, as often as you spend time in the infirmary, you should consider buying some real estate here."

Daniel smiled slightly. "It's not exactly a prime location for a condo. What can I do for you?"

"Oh, I was just checking on you. We're heading off to P3L-997 in a few hours to get busy on relocating the inhabitants. It's going to take several days to get everyone through to the new planet, and it sure would have been nice to have you with us. You're the only one they really trust. Hell, if it wasn't for you, I doubt that we'd even have convinced them they had to leave."

P3L-997 was a planet whose moon was in a decaying orbit. It was being plagued with severe weather, earthquakes and flooding. According to Sam, things would continue to worsen. It wouldn't be long before the planet could no longer support human life and might eventually be destroyed.

When SG-21 first gated to the planet, the natives viewed them with suspicion. Daniel, who could read their language, a derivative of Early Aramaic, was asked to come help and soon gained the people's trust. He convinced them that they had to leave their world and go to a new home. This had been just before the incident with the Unas on P3X-403. It had taken all this time to find a planet that would work for the people. Their present world's gravity was almost twenty-five percent lighter than Earth's, which, over the generations, had affected their musculature and bone structure. Moving them to a world with significantly heavier gravity would have caused severe difficulties for them.

"I know that you're on leave," Major Dunstan was now saying, "but I'd figured that it wouldn't hurt to ask if you could come. But I'd say that's not going to be possible now."

"No. Sorry, Eli. I might have gone with you if this hadn't happened, but Janet would kill me if I tried to go on a mission today."

"That's what I thought."

"Take Doctor Bowman with you," Daniel suggested. "He's not as fluent in their written language as I am, but he should do all right if you need someone for that."

"Okay, I'll ask him. Take care of yourself and the munchkin, and don't go hitting your head again. We need those brains of yours around here."

"See you later, Eli."

Daniel had gotten Danny up and dressed when Sam dropped by.

"Hey, how are you feeling this morning?" she asked the elder of the two.

"Good, just about back to normal."

"We're going to breakfast," Danny said. "Are you coming, too?"

"No, I'm afraid not, Danny," Sam replied. "Actually, I was looking for Colonel O'Neill."

"We haven't seen him this morning," Daniel told her. "But I'm sure he's around here somewhere."

"I'll keep looking. When are you heading back home?"

"After breakfast."

"If I don't see you before then, I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Sure. See you later, Sam."

"Bye, Sam," Danny said.

"Come on," Daniel said to the boy. "Let's go eat."

* * *

When Jack talked to Hammond about a psychologist for Danny, the general was all for it and said that he'd work on finding one that could be given clearance. Jack was not looking forward to approaching Daniel about the idea that both he and Danny get the counseling together. The archeologist would very likely agree to counseling for Danny but not for himself.

That's when Jack got an idea. Maybe they just wouldn't tell Daniel that he was going to be counseled, too. If the psychologist was smart and approached things the right way, they might be able to get Daniel talking before he realized what was going on. Yes, some might consider it a bit underhanded, but if it was the only way to succeed, Jack wasn't above being a little underhanded.

The colonel was on the elevator going up when it stopped to let Sam in.

"Sir. I've been looking for you," she said.

"Oh?"

"Doctor Felger called me about the weapon he's been working on. It's ready to be tested."

"Weapon, you say?"

"Yes, sir. This could be very important. If he was successful, this technology could help us tremendously. I wondered if you'd like to be there for the test, too."

"Sure, why not."

The test didn't quite go as expected. In fact, not only did Felger's "focused plasma pulse" weapon not work, it blew up and took out the power to the entire base. General Hammond was not a happy camper, and Felger was now off to face his wrath with Sam tagging along.

Daniel and Danny were on the elevator when it stopped for Jack.

"Hey, I was just coming to see you," the colonel said, getting on.

"We're on our way out," Daniel told him. He smiled slightly. "So, how long do you think it'll take to get off emergency power?"

"Siler's working on it as we speak. Did you hear what happened?"

"Oh, yes. Danny and I were in the middle of breakfast when the lights went out. I called, and somebody told me about Doctor Felger's little incident."

"That man is a menace," Jack growled. "We're lucky he didn't blow up the whole base."

"Doctor Felger is a little . . . overly ambitious in what he attempts to accomplish, and I think he tries too hard to impress people, but he's not a bad guy, Jack. Besides, he did help rescue you guys from. . . ." Daniel stopped, remembering that Danny was there.

"Please don't remind me. So, you guys on your way home?"

"Yes, with orders from Janet that I'm not to exert myself today."

"I'm going to take care of him," Danny informed Jack seriously. "Janet told me to make sure he didn't do anything he's not supposed to."

"Really? Well, good luck, kid," Jack said. "I've been trying for years to keep Daniel from doing things he shouldn't, and I've had no luck at all."

Not appreciating the remark, Daniel retorted, "Must be the methods you employ, Jack, since I've had _lots_ of luck keeping _you_ from doing things _you_ shouldn't," Daniel retorted.

Jack responded with a sarcastic smile.

The elevator came to a stop at the eleventh floor, the highest floor to which it traveled. As the three people stepped off, they saw that all the lights were back on.

"Ah, good old Siler," Jack remarked. He walked with the two Daniels to the checkpoint at the other elevator. He looked down at the littler one. "Danny, I am counting on you to keep this guy out of trouble. Don't let me down."

"I won't," Danny promised.

Daniel and Danny went straight back to Daniel's place. The archeologist was glad that he didn't have any appointments today and could just relax at home.

Danny had taken Janet's instructions to heart and started acting like a little mother as soon as they got home. He insisted that Daniel sit on the couch and relax, asking the archeologist if he wanted any juice or milk. Trying not to smile, Daniel replied that he didn't need anything.

And that's pretty much the way it was for the rest of the day. When lunchtime came, Daniel had to insist that he was well enough to prepare the meal, preferring not to discover what an eight-year-old would fix them to eat.

It was actually nice spending a quiet day at home with Danny. The two of them watched TV, played some games, and just talked. Danny still had a lot of questions about what was out there in the universe, and Daniel told him as much as he figured it was okay to reveal, mostly telling the boy about the interesting cultures he'd met and the archeological finds.

Unintentionally, the topic got onto Nick. Daniel knew that he wasn't supposed to reveal mission details to Danny, but decided that this was one mission he needed to tell the boy about, or at least one part of it.

"Um, there's something you need to know about Grandpa Nick," Daniel began.

"Is he dead?" Danny asked. "He'd be really old now."

"The truth is that I don't know, Danny. Do you remember the crystal skull that Nick talked about?"

"The one he found in Belize that he said took him to see giant aliens?"

"Yes."

"Dad said that it wasn't real."

"I know. Mom didn't really believe him either."

"But there really are aliens, so maybe he was right."

Daniel smiled. "As it turns out, he _was_ right. The skull had sent him to another planet, where he did meet giant aliens. We met them, too, a few years ago."

"You did?"

"Uh huh. We wanted to be friends with the aliens. They decided that they wanted Nick to stay with them to be sort of an ambassador for us."

"Wow. So Grandpa Nick is on another planet?" Danny asked.

"Yes, he is."

"Do you visit him sometimes?"

"No, I'm afraid that I can't. I can't explain why, but we can't visit him. It's been three and a half years since he left."

"Are you sad?"

"Yes, I am. Nick and I had an argument many years ago, and I stopped seeing him. Before he went off to stay with the aliens, I hadn't seen him for four years. Before he left, we talked, and things got better between us. I was sad to see him go because I wanted us to be a family again, a _real_ family."

"He's never going to come back?"

Daniel sighed. "I really don't know, Danny. He's very old, and I don't even know if he's still alive."

Seeing the sadness in Daniel's eyes, Danny gave him a hug.

The next morning, Daniel was getting ready for the appointment he had when Jack called.

"Hey, just wanted to give you a heads-up on what's going on here," he said. "There's trouble on P3C-249. The rebel Jaffa leaders are not getting along so well, and we're going to try and smooth things out. Carter's not going, though. It seems that Felger's got some new bright idea, a computer virus program of some kind, and she wants to help him with it."

"So, it's just you and Teal'c?"

"And another SG team."

"Well, have fun," Daniel said, choosing not to worry. Though the memory of his nightmare was still haunting him, he figured that Jack and Teal'c would be okay. When it came to talking with Jaffa, Teal'c was definitely the best man for the job.

"Oh, yes," Jack responded. "I'm anticipating that we'll have a gay old time. Nothing like a bunch of bickering Jaffa to liven things up."

After Daniel was finished with his appointment, Danny asked if they could play miniature golf since Daniel wasn't able to play before. It had been many years since the archeologist had played the game, but he agreed, and the two of them had lots of fun.

"How much longer before we move into our new house?" Danny asked as they walked back to the car.

"It's still going to be a couple of weeks, Danny."

"How come?"

"Well, you see, it has to go through something called escrow. Sometimes, escrow can take quite a while, but we're lucky because this one is going to be a little faster than usual."

"And when escrow is all over, we can move in?"

"Uh huh."

"Good."

Daniel had one more appointment that afternoon, then he and Danny went to a large home electronics store. Daniel had decided that the easiest way to explain some of the modern technology would be to show it to the boy. He got a couple of odd looks from people who were probably wondering why Danny didn't know what the things were, but the linguist ignored them, figuring that he didn't owe them any kind of explanation. If someone asked, he'd just say that Danny had spent most of his life on digs in Egypt and had no experience with this stuff. That was more or less true.

The next day, Daniel took Danny to a large book store. The boy was in heaven and would gladly have spent the entire day there. They left the place several hours later with an enormous stack of books, including a couple on modern history.

They'd just gotten home when Daniel's cell phone rang. It was General Hammond.

"Doctor Jackson, I hate to bother you on your leave, but I'm afraid we have an issue here."

"What's wrong?"

"Certain people are expressing concern about the psychic connection between you and Danny, specifically this latest development of Danny witnessing something through your eyes."

Oh, great. "And?"

"A couple of representatives have arrived to speak with you and discuss this."

"I see. Okay, we're on our way." Daniel hung up the phone. "Danny, we need to go to the base about something."

The boy's eyes lit up. "We'll get to see everybody?"

"No, not everyone. Jack and Teal'c are on a mission, so they won't be there. But General Hammond and Sam will."

When they got to the SGC, Sergeant Harriman volunteered to watch Danny while Daniel was in the meeting.

In the briefing room, Hammond introduced Colonel Wallis and Major Sandoval, who were both from the Pentagon.

"Doctor Jackson, we are more than a little concerned about these reports we've gotten on this . . . this psychic connection between you and your clone," Wallis said. "I don't think I have to say that the information you work with here is classified and extremely sensitive. For an eight-year-old child to have access to it is pretty alarming."

"Colonel, I only know of four times so far that Danny has gotten something from my mind. Four times in the space of four weeks isn't much. And, in each of those cases, Danny only got tiny bits of information. I seriously doubt that he's ever going to be able to pull entire mission reports or anything else like that from my thoughts."

"But you don't know that for sure," Sandoval said. "On top of that, he is now witnessing things through your eyes."

"It happened once, under extreme circumstances."

"Once so far."

Daniel looked at the two men. "Okay, so why are you here? You obviously have something to say besides expressing your concerns."

"A number of people feel that it would be best if your clone remains on base," Wallis replied, "where any information he gets from your mind cannot be passed on to people outside the program."

Daniel stared at them. "You mean keep him a prisoner here?"

"Not a prisoner. It would merely be a situation somewhat like it is with Teal'c. He would live here on base, either with you or with some other member of the personnel. He could occasionally go off-base, but only under the close supervision of an adult."

"Absolutely not," Daniel said forcefully.

"Doctor Jackson—"

"No. I don't care what you have to say. Danny is a child who deserves as normal a life as he can have. That includes going to school and playing with other children. I refuse to even consider having him spend his entire childhood here on base. This is not the kind of place for a child to grow up."

"There is also the option of you and the child living on Peterson Air Force Base, in the housing complex," Sandoval stated. "Not all the personnel there know about the program, but it would still be a more secure location."

"And how would you explain our presence there to everyone who doesn't know about the program? I'm not in the military, and I don't work at Peterson. The idea is _not_ to draw attention to us. You'd have everyone wondering what our story is." Daniel shook his head. "No, Danny is going to live in town with me, where he can live a relatively normal life."

Wallis was clearly not happy. "We could force the issue, Doctor Jackson."

"How? Put him under house arrest? He's eight years old?"

"He is a child who may be a threat to the secrecy of the Stargate Program."

"A threat? Even if he did get information he shouldn't and let something slip to someone outside the program, who would believe him? They'd assume it was just a child's imagination."

"We're unwilling to take that chance," Wallis insisted.

Daniel got to his feet, glaring at the man. "I will say this only once. If you force this issue, I will immediately tender my resignation, which should pretty much solve the problem since I will no longer be viewing classified documents. The choice is yours."

Not waiting to be dismissed, Daniel left the briefing room. He went into the control room. Not seeing Danny and Harriman, he asked one of the others where they were. The man said that the sergeant had taken his break and went with Danny to the commissary. This was good news to Daniel, who wanted to cool off before getting the boy.

The archeologist decided to go visit Sam, but she wasn't in her lab. He remembered that she was supposed to be working with Felger on that computer virus and went to the man's lab. He found Sam, Felger and Chloe, Felger's assistant, all gathered around a computer monitor.

Sam spotted him and smiled brightly. "Hey. What are you doing here?" Then she noticed the tension in his body. "What's wrong?"

"You're busy. We can talk about it some other time."

"Don't be silly. A few minutes isn't going to matter. Come on. Let's go someplace."

They went down the hall to her lab.

"Okay, so what's wrong?" Sam asked.

Daniel told her about the meeting.

"I can't believe this," Sam said, outraged. "Man, this really proves how uncaring some people in the military are, that they could demand that a child live out his whole childhood cooped up inside a military base. And for what? Because Danny _might_ gain information he shouldn't and _might_ let something slip? He's a child! Anything he said to somebody that sounded kind of far-fetched would just be ignored as his imagination."

"That's what I said."

"So, what are you going to do about this?"

"I told them that, if they didn't back off, I'd quit. Danny wouldn't be getting any more classified information from my thoughts if I was no longer a part of the program."

The thought of Daniel quitting the program really upset Sam. It was bad enough that he was leaving the team. To lose him from the program entirely would be much worse. But she could understand why he would do it if the Pentagon insisted that Danny live at the SGC. That would be no life for a child.

"I really hope it doesn't come to that, Daniel. You're way too valuable to the program. We need your skills."

"Well, let's just hope the people in charge think the same thing." Daniel decided that he needed to get his mind off this new problem. "So, how are things going with the virus?"

"Pretty good, actually. We're making a lot of progress." She explained to Daniel that, if they were successful, the virus would allow them to prevent any gate they infected with it from dialing out. Daniel agreed that would be a tremendous weapon against the Goa'uld.

"Would you be able to take a break from it to say hi to Danny?" he asked. "He'd love to see you."

"Sure. I'd love to see him, too. We didn't really get any time to visit yesterday. Let me just go tell Jay and Chloe that I'll be gone for a half-hour or so."

When Sam told the other two that she'd be gone for half an hour, Chloe was fine with it, but Felger wasn't.

"I . . . I think that we're really close to a breakthrough here," he said. "If we just keep at it. . . ."

"Jay, I really don't think that half an hour is going to matter," Chloe said. "I could use a break, too."

"Well . . . yeah, I guess a break would be good," Felger admitted. "Maybe we could all go for a snack in the commissary."

"Actually, I'm going to be visiting with Danny and Daniel," Sam told him.

"Oh."

"I'll be back in a while."

Daniel and Sam found Danny and Harriman still in the commissary. When the boy spied Sam, he came up to her, putting his arms around her neck as she knelt.

"I need to get back to the control room," Walter told everyone as he stood.

"Thanks for watching him," Daniel said.

Daniel, Danny and Sam sat at the table.

"Our house is going through escrow," Danny informed Sam.

"Well, that's not a bad thing, though I know it can seem to take forever."

"Actually, it's supposed to close in another two weeks, if everything goes smoothly," Daniel responded.

"Really? That's great. I bet you guys can't wait to move in."

"Well, the moving part is never fun, but I'll be happy when we're all settled in there."

"It's got three bedrooms, so if you ever wanted to spend the night, you could," Danny told Sam.

Daniel and Sam's eyes met for a charged moment, then slid away from each other.

"I'll, uh, remember that," Sam said, unable to stop herself from thinking that, if she spent the night, she'd rather be doing it in Daniel's bedroom.

The three of them enjoyed their brief time together, then Sam headed back to work. Daniel took Danny to General Hammond's office, hoping that the two men from the Pentagon were gone by now. They were, and the general was in his office. He smiled upon seeing Danny.

"Well, hello there, Danny."

The boy ran over and got up onto his lap to hug him.

"And how have you been doing?" Hammond asked him.

"Okay. It would be fun to come to your house again and play with Tessa and Kayla."

"Well, the very next time that they come visit me, I'll be sure to invite you, too. I'm sure, though, that you'll be making lots of other friends in your neighborhood once you're living in your new house."

A little startled by the statement, Daniel gazed at the man. He realized that, with those words, Hammond was showing his support and would fight to make sure Danny was allowed to live off-base.

Danny repeated some of the things they'd done this week, telling the general that his presence had been missed at the barbeque.

"We should let General Hammond get back to work," Daniel finally said. "He's got important things to do."

"Okay." Danny gave the man another hug and got off his lap.

The general looked up at Daniel. "Regarding that issue we discussed earlier, I've spoken to the president about it. We'll get it straightened out."

"Thank you, sir. I really hope so."

Daniel and Danny left the office. The archeologist asked if Danny wanted to say hi to Janet before they left, and the boy said yes.

They spent a little time in the infirmary, where all the nurses fawned over Danny. They were heading for the elevator a while later when a voice stopped them.

"Well, I'll be damned."

The two turned to face the man who had spoken.

"Hey, Ferretti," Daniel greeted. "Back from your leave?" The man had been on medical leave for the past month while recovering from an injury.

"Yeah. Got back yesterday to find the entire base buzzing with the news of this guy." Ferretti stepped forward and held out his hand to the boy. "Louis Ferretti. Daniel and I go way, way back. We're good buddies."

Danny shook the man's hand.

Ferretti let out a laugh and shook his head. "When my team told me about this, I thought they were pulling my leg. They didn't say a word about it when they visited me at home. But everyone else here was saying the same thing." He grinned. "First Jack, and, now, you. I suppose Sam will be next."

"First Jack what?" Danny asked.

Ferretti met Daniel's eyes, realizing that he'd said something he shouldn't have. He sent a silent apology.

"I'll tell you later, Danny," Daniel told the boy.

"One of these days, I'll have to tell you how Daniel and I met," Ferretti said, "back when he was a long-haired geek."

"Geek?" Danny remembered what that word meant and frowned. "Daniel's not a geek," he declared firmly.

"No, not anymore, but he sure looked like one when I first met him."

"A geek is a bad thing."

"Well, it can have a little different meaning now than it did back when I was a kid, Danny," Daniel explained. "Back then, it wasn't nice at all to be called a geek. Nowadays, some people like to think of themselves as geeks. They're proud of it, in fact." Daniel wasn't one of them, but he sure wasn't going to tell Danny that.

"Hey, I wasn't insulting him, kid," Ferretti assured the boy. "Honest." He threw an arm about Daniel's shoulder. "I love this guy to pieces. Like I said, we're good buddies."

Danny gave him a child's version of the Daniel Jackson glare for a while longer. "Okay, but don't call him a geek anymore."

"I won't. I promise."

Daniel and Danny left the base. As they drove down the mountain, Danny said, "I don't think I like him."

"You mean Ferretti?"

"Yeah. He called you a geek."

"He didn't mean anything by it, Danny. Ferretti says stuff like that to tease people. He's a good guy. I've known him for a long time, as long as Jack."

"What did he mean when he said, 'First Jack'?"

Daniel sighed. He was hoping that Danny would forget about that. He glanced at his watch. Making a sudden decision, he said, "Danny, there's someone I think you should meet." 


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The summer classes were just letting out when Daniel and Danny pulled up across the street. Telling Danny to stay in the car, Daniel got out and walked across the street as he scanned the crowd of teenagers, hoping that the one he was looking for would exit through the main doors.

A couple of minutes later, Daniel spotted a familiar figure in the crowd of teens and walked toward him. The person saw the archeologist a moment later. With an expression of surprise, the clone of Jack O'Neill came up to him. They hadn't seen each other since the day the younger Jack left the SGC to start his new life.

"Daniel? What are you doing here?" the teenaged Jack asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not exactly. I wanted you to meet somebody."

Daniel began walking with Jack toward his car. He motioned for Danny to get out, who exited the car on the other side, then moved around to stand behind it.

The teenager's eyes widened as he stared at the little boy. "Daniel, what's going on?"

The two of them came to a stop before the child. "Danny, I'd like you to meet the other Jack O'Neill. Jack, this is the other Daniel Jackson."

"You're a clone?" the two surprised younger people blurted out.

"I think we'd better go someplace else to talk," Daniel said.

They all got into Daniel's car, and he drove them to the nearest park.

"Okay, I think some explanations are in order," Jack's clone said as they reached a picnic table well away from the others who were in the park.

"Are you really a clone of Uncle Jack?" Danny asked him.

The teen's mouth quirked upward. "_Uncle_ Jack? Yep, I'm a clone of him, unfortunately."

"You're older than me. Did the machine make you older or were you made a long time ago?"

Jack's clone looked at Daniel questioningly. "Machine?"

"Danny was created off-world by a civilization that was cloning people in an attempt to increase their population."

"And they decided that you were good cloning material?"

"Yes, unbeknownst to me."

"Ah." The teenaged Jack looked back down at Danny. "I was cloned by one of the Asgard. You know who they are?"

"Uh huh. Uncle Jack says that they're all clones. Why did they clone you? You're not an Asgard."

"That is a long, long story, kid, too long to get into now." Jack's clone shook his head, looking at the adult Daniel. "You know, it really doesn't surprise me that, if anyone else in the SGC was going to get cloned, it would be you. In fact, I'd have bet money on it."

"Why?" Danny asked.

"Because a lot of the weird stuff that happens ends up happening to Daniel . . . or me . . . uh, my older self, that is."

"Do you have all Jack's memories?"

"Everything up to the time I was made, which was a few months ago."

"I only have the memories Daniel had when he was my age."

"You should count yourself lucky. There's so much crammed into Daniel's adult head that it would probably split your littler head wide open if all of it was put in there."

"It would not!" Danny said. "You're making that up."

Jack's clone smiled slightly. "Smart kid. Gee, now _there's_ a surprise."

Just then, there was the familiar sound of an ice cream truck approaching.

"Can I have some ice cream?" Danny asked.

"May I," Daniel corrected.

"May I?"

Daniel fished into his pocket and pulled out a couple of dollars, handing them to the boy.

"Do you want an ice cream, Jack?" Danny asked.

"Nope, I'm good."

"Don't get more than one, Danny," Daniel told the boy. "I don't want you spoiling your dinner."

Danny ran off as the ice cream truck came into view. It stopped for him and some other children who had been in the park.

"So, you got yourself cloned," the teenager said.

"Not on purpose, I assure you," Daniel responded.

"What does everyone else think of this?"

"Actually, they've been great. Everybody loves Danny."

Jack's clone studied his face. "You're taking care of him?"

"Yeah. There was no question in my mind that I was the best one to do it." Daniel paused. "The last memory Danny was given by the cloning machine was of my parents' death."

"Damn," the teen cursed. "Is he all right?"

"He wasn't at first, but he's a whole lot better now. Everyone's been helping with that. He's still got a ways to go, though. Every once in a while, something happens to set him back. He's terrified that I or one of the other people he cares about will die."

"What a rough break. So, what does all this mean for you? Are you going to stay on SG-1?"

Daniel's gaze dropped to the grass between his feet. "No. I'm going to leave the team." He looked over at Danny, who was talking to one of other children who had gotten ice cream. "The others don't know yet, except for Sam. I'm on leave right now."

"You're not really happy about it, are you." The answer was pretty obvious to the teenaged Jack.

"I'm doing what's best for Danny."

"You never change, do you."

Daniel looked at him questioningly.

"You're always doing what's best for other people and never what's best for you."

"What's best for Danny _is_ what's best for me," Daniel insisted. "He's my responsibility, and I care about him." There was no way that he was going to get into the other reason why he was leaving the team.

"That may be so, but when are you going to allow yourself to have what you really want, Daniel?"

If Daniel didn't know better, he'd swear that Danny wasn't the only person who could read his thoughts.

Danny came running up to them, a fudgecicle in his hand, already half-eaten.

"Want a bite?" the boy asked his fellow clone, holding the ice cream out to him.

"No, it's all yours."

Danny asked Daniel the same question and was given a similar answer.

"Who's the boy you were talking to?" Daniel asked.

"His name's Patrick. He's here with his mom and little sister."

"Do you want to play with him for a while?"

Danny didn't answer for a moment. "I don't know. He doesn't know the secret either."

"Secret?" Jack's clone questioned.

"That I'm a clone and Daniel isn't really my dad."

"No, he doesn't," Daniel said, "but neither will any other children you meet."

"But what if I mess up again?"

"I'm sure you won't. You just have to be very careful about what you say." Daniel looked at the boy closely. "You don't have to play with him if you don't want to, Danny, but it really would be okay if you do."

Danny gave it some more thought. "I guess it would be okay."

Daniel gave him a smile. "Good. Go on over there and play, then." He watched as the boy ran over to where Patrick and a little girl about five years old were playing.

"It's a big secret for a little kid to keep," Jack's clone remarked. "How much does he know about everything?"

"As much as we thought he needed to . . . plus a little bit more about some things."

"So, how are you coping with suddenly being a single father?"

"Mostly okay. It's tough sometimes."

"Yes, I can imagine so. It's probably a lot easier when you get to start from the beginning. It gives you a few years to get the hang of parenting before they reach the age where they'll remember all the mistakes you made. But then, I didn't have to deal with raising a genius. It's a good thing that you're one, too. So, what grade will he be going into?"

"As far as his memory is concerned, he's already started fourth grade, so that's probably what he'll be put in when school begins in the fall . . . at least I _hope_ so."

The younger version of Jack looked at him sharply. "What's wrong?"

Daniel told him about the telepathic connection and the problem with the Pentagon.

"Well, I sure was right when I said most of the weird stuff happens to you," the teenager responded. "You have no idea how glad I am that there's no telepathy going on between me and my original."

"I really wish it wasn't going on between us either, especially now. I told the Pentagon that, if they insisted on Danny remaining at the SGC, I'd quit, figuring that, if I was no longer involved in a top secret program. . . ."

"Danny wouldn't be getting any more classified stuff from your head."

"Yeah. But I'm worried that they'll still demand that he live on the base because of the knowledge he already has."

"They allowed Cassie to live off-base, and she's an alien," Jack's clone pointed out.

"Cassie was twelve at the time; Danny's eight. There's a big difference."

"Yeah, you're right about that. Eight-year-olds aren't the best in the world when it comes to keeping secrets. I know that from experience."

"Actually, I was very good at keeping secrets at that age, and Danny's been doing pretty well, too."

"If it means that you'll quit, I'd say that the Pentagon will back off," Jack's clone reasoned. "The people in the program aren't going to want to lose you. You're too valuable."

"I was gone for a year, Jack, and the Stargate Program went on fine without me. If they're really set on this, they'll just point that out to the ones who don't want me to leave."

Jack's clone had a few arguments that he could make about that, but he decided to hold off on it. "So, if you _do_ have to quit, what are you going to do?"

"I have no idea. Even though it's been well over seven years, the stigma of my theories and that last lecture is still going to be on me. I'm not sure what kind of job I could get in the archeological community. My best bet might be to go back to Egypt, find a dig somewhere and work my way back into it. Danny probably wouldn't mind that, not if he could stay with me on the digs. It's what he knows best. But he'd miss everyone here."

"And so would you," the teenaged Jack guessed.

Daniel sighed softly. "Yeah."

"Well, don't start making any travel plans yet, Daniel. I still believe that the brass isn't going to be willing to lose you. What does my other self have to say about this?"

"He doesn't know yet. He and Teal'c are on a mission right now."

"Well, just have him complain to the president. The guy likes us, you know."

Daniel smiled slightly. "I'll do that." He looked at the clone of his friend. "I didn't ask how _you're_ doing."

"Oh, I'm getting by. It's been a bit of an adjustment. It's weird going to high school again. Didn't care for it so much the first time around, so I'm trying to enjoy it more this time. Doing a lot better at keeping my grades up. The biggest problem is that everyone is so damn _young_."

"So are you, physically."

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, I do. I'm really glad that Danny doesn't have all of my memories. I wouldn't want to even think about being stuck in the body of an eight-year-old with the mind of an adult."

"That would not be pleasant," Jack agreed. "It's bad enough being stuck in the body of a fifteen-year-old. At least I'm past the worst part of puberty."

"So, why did you decide to attend summer classes?" Daniel asked.

"So that I can get my diploma sooner. I may be trying to enjoy high school more this time around, but being in class with a bunch of fifteen and sixteen-year-olds is getting a bit old. I want to get out of here and into college. Now,_ that_ will be a blast. Frat parties, sorority girls, all the stuff you don't get to do when going to the academy."

"Then you're not going into the Air Force again?"

"I can't. My fingerprints and DNA would come up as belonging to Jack O'Neill. There's also the fact that I really wouldn't look forward to being in the lower ranks again. I got used to being a colonel, and it would rub me the wrong way taking orders from a captain or major. So, I might get into flying private planes, chartering or something. No big commercial jets, though. That's boring. Heck, if I do that, I'll probably be logging more flight hours than the other me does. That was one of the biggest drawbacks about being in the program, not getting to fly as much as I would have liked to."

Silence fell between them as they watched Danny play.

"Thanks, Daniel," Jack's clone suddenly said.

The archeologist looked at him, giving him a small smile and a nod. There was no need for explanations. Daniel understood how hard it must be for this teenager before him who possessed the mind and memories of the man who was one of Daniel's best friends. This Jack O'Neill had been forced to give up everything, his whole life, including all his friends. Daniel could imagine how difficult it was for him, to be completely cut off from everything and everyone.

"You know, if you ever need a babysitter for the little squirt, I might be available," Jack's clone told him. "It would be a trip babysitting a little you. Of course, he'll probably be nearly as big a pain in the ass as you are, but I think I can handle it."

Daniel's smile widened. "I'll keep you in mind when I need someone to take care of him." He paused a moment. "I know that you'll probably say no, but . . . the Fourth of July party is coming up, and I just thought that maybe you'd like to come."

"I don't think that would be a good idea, Daniel, though I appreciate you asking."

Not surprised by the answer, Daniel just nodded.

"Well, I guess I should get going," the teenager said. "Got a history test tomorrow that I need to study for. Hey, you wouldn't consider giving me a hand on that, would you? You know, like give me a cheat sheet on anything and everything you know about the history of China?"

"Asking me to help you cheat on a test, Jack? Shame on you."

"Well, it was worth a try. Oh, and, just so you know, I'm not going by 'Jack'. As much as I don't like the name, I'm using 'Jon', though I decided to drop the 'H' and make it short for 'Jonathan'."

Daniel nodded, understanding the logic of the decision to go by a different name. As it was, there could be a problem if, when Jack's clone got a few years older, someone noticed the uncanny resemblance between him and the elder Jack O'Neill. Daniel didn't know what cover story had been created for that eventuality.

"And your last name?" he asked.

"O'Brien. Mom and Dad would roll over in their graves if I didn't use an Irish name. Besides, I'm kind of fond of that 'O'. Didn't get to keep the two 'L's, though."

Daniel smiled at the remark. He called to Danny to come say goodbye to "Jon." The boy came running over.

"I've gotta get going, kiddo," the older clone said. "It was great meeting you. We'll have to get together sometime and hang out. We clones need to stick together, you know."

"That would be cool," Danny responded.

Jon tousled his hair, then stood up. "You two take good care of each other, okay?"

"We will," the boy assured him.

Daniel met the teen's eyes. "Bye, Jack . . . Jon. We'll see you again."

"I'm looking forward to it."

With a little touch of sadness, Daniel watched Jack's clone walk away and disappear from view.

* * *

A call came from Sam the next afternoon. "Daniel, I thought you should know that we've got a big problem here. We tested Felger's virus this morning, uploaded it to P5S-117, and, somehow, it caused the whole gate network to go down. None of the gates can dial out except for us. We think the virus triggered a correlative update, which ended up causing the scrambled gate coordinates to be transmitted throughout the network. You see, that's how the virus works, by corrupting the dialing information in the infected DHD. Our gate is the only one that can still dial out because we don't use a DHD. We've got twelve teams stranded off-world."

"Jack and Teal'c?" Daniel asked worriedly.

"They're among the ones stranded, as are Doctor Bowman and SG-21. And it's even worse. The gate going down has caused things on P3C-249 to get really bad. All of the Jaffa leaders started accusing each other of being responsible. We don't know who, but one of them apparently sold everyone out to the Goa'uld. The last we know is that they were all under attack. On top of that, the situation on P3L-997 is deteriorating rapidly. The whole area is flooding. When we talked to them last, they were estimating that the entire city would be under water within two days."

Daniel thought about the fact that, if it hadn't been for his accident, he'd be on that planet rather than Bowman.

"And, to add insult to injury, Ba'al is apparently taking advantage of the situation and attacking the other System Lords," Sam added, "and he's winning."

"Can you fix it?"

"We're working on it."

"I suppose there isn't anything I can do."

"No, I just thought that I should tell you. I'll let you know as soon as I have some news."

Daniel hung up the phone, extremely worried about Jack and Teal'c, as well as Doctor Bowman and SG-21. He was very careful to hide his concerns from Danny, though, not wanting to frighten the boy.

It was many hours later that another call came from Sam.

"Everyone is okay, Daniel," she told him. "The gate network is back up."

"Thank God."

Sam explained what happened. It turned out that the reason the entire network went down was that Ba'al had detected the virus, which had originally been uploaded to a gate under his control, and altered it to infect the whole network. He most likely figured that, with the Stargates down, he could strike against the other System Lords with the advantage of having the biggest fleet available to him. The other System Lords would be unable to use the gates to call for reinforcements.

Because an attempt to set things right didn't work, Felger and Sam had already guessed that, somehow, instead of just transmitting the scrambled gate coordinates, the infected DHD had also transmitted the virus itself, but they were unaware of Ba'al's tampering. Believing that it was the only way they could fix things, Sam and Felger went to the planet originally infected with the virus to reboot the system by removing the control crystal and upload an anti-virus. That's when they discovered what Ba'al had done. While Felger was busy altering the anti-virus to work on the changed virus, some of Ba'al's Jaffa began attacking. Sam and Felger were rescued by Jack and Teal'c, who, with the help of the other SG team and the rebel Jaffa, had managed to capture the Al'Kesh that had been attacking them.

"Felger made sure this could never happen again," Sam said in conclusion.

"Wow. It sounds like I missed all the excitement."

"Oh, trust me. You're lucky that you were able to stay out of it. This was not fun. If I _ever_ go along with one of Felger's so-called scientific breakthroughs again, please shoot me. I beg you."

Daniel grinned. "Maybe shooting Felger would be the better idea."

"Oh, he'll be lucky if Colonel O'Neill doesn't do that. Teal'c, the colonel and the other team are flying home in the Al'Kesh, so they're not back yet."

"I'm relieved that everyone is okay. Did Doctor Bowman and SG-21 get everybody off P3L-997?"

"Yes, they did, and just in the nick of time. Another hour or so, and the gate would have been underwater." Daniel heard Sam talking to someone else in the room. "I need to get going, Daniel," she told the archeologist.

"Okay. Thanks for calling, Sam."

Jack dropped by that evening about an hour before Danny's bedtime.

"Uncle Jack, how come you never told me that you had a clone?" Danny asked just a few minutes after the man got there.

Jack froze in surprise. "How did you find out?"

"Daniel took me to see him."

Jack turned to Daniel. "Why the heck did you do that?"

"Because Ferretti let the cat out of the bag."

Danny looked at the two adults. "You didn't want me to know?"

"No, it's not that we didn't want you to know," Jack replied. "It's just that, uh, well. . . ."

"Jack is embarrassed about having been cloned, Danny," Daniel explained, "especially because of how and why it happened."

"So, why did the Asgard clone him?"

Jack turned back to Daniel. "Did you tell him that or did he?"

"He did."

"Oh." Jack returned his attention to the boy. "It was just one of the Asgard that did it, and he did it without permission from the others. He wanted to do some experiments on me. He created the clone to take my place so that nobody would know I was missing. But there was a screw-up, and the clone didn't mature all the way."

"What kind of experiments? Did they hurt?"

"I don't remember the experiments, but, no, I don't think they hurt. He was trying to find out some stuff that he thought would help the Asgard. But it didn't, and Thor was pretty ticked off when he found out what Loki had done."

"Loki is the Norse god of mischief," Danny said.

Jack looked at Daniel. "For cryin' out loud, Daniel. Exactly how much mythology did your parents stuff into your head?"

"A lot," was Daniel's succinct reply.

"Why doesn't your clone live with you like I live with Daniel?" Danny asked. A short, somewhat uncomfortable silence followed.

"Uh, well, you see, my clone is a lot older than you," Jack replied, "and, since he had all of my adult memories, he didn't need anyone to take care if him. He's able to take care of himself."

"Why are you embarrassed about him?" Danny looked at Daniel. "Are you embarrassed about me?"

"No. Absolutely not, Danny," the archeologist instantly replied. "In fact, you are one of the best things that's ever happened to me."

Danny smiled. "I am?"

Daniel ran his hand through the boy's hair. "Yes, you are. I'm very glad that you came into my life, into _our_ lives."

"That goes for me, too," Jack stated. "We like having you around." Wanting to get the subject off his clone, he then said, "So, tell me what you guys have been up to while I was gone."

An hour later, Danny was asleep in bed, and the two men were back on the couch.

"So . . . how's the mini-me doing?" the colonel asked a little hesitantly.

"As well as you could expect. It hasn't been an easy adjustment for him." Daniel's gaze dropped to his hands. "Jack, I chose not to question you before about your decision not to be involved in your clone's life, but my viewpoint has changed since Danny was created."

"And you want to know why. It was a mutual decision, Daniel. We both agreed that it would be too weird to keep in touch. It's different than it is with you and Danny. Danny's a child with the memories of a child."

Daniel nodded. "I know. If Danny had all my memories, I should imagine that it would be awkward for us as well."

Again wanting the conversation off his clone, Jack said, "I suppose Carter told you all about what happened with that virus."

"Yes, she did. So, was everyone happy with the Al'Kesh you brought back?"

"Oh, yes. Tickled pink, although it wouldn't surprise me if we end up loaning the thing to the Tok'ra, just like when we got our hands on that mothership. And look how that turned out. It didn't survive long." Jack shook his head. "I swear, Daniel. If it hadn't been for the fact that I'd have been thrown in the brig, I would have wrapped my hands around Feljer's neck. I can't believe Hammond didn't fire the idiot."

"It's Felger, Jack," Daniel corrected. "From what Sam said, the virus would have been a great weapon if Ba'al hadn't figured out what was going on and devised a way to use it for his own benefit."

Jack decided that he didn't want to talk about Felger anymore. The man would always be an idiot, as far as he was concerned. "I heard about this issue with the Pentagon. I just knew that something like this might happen. But don't you worry, Daniel. We'll get it all straightened out, even if I have to take a trip to D.C. and talk to the president personally. You are way too valuable to the SGC to lose because of the stupid fears of a few idiots."

"I really hope you're right. I haven't told Danny about any of this."

"Let's hope you never have to. And speaking of being without you around there, how much longer are you going to be on leave? I have to say that Teal'c and I sure could have used your help trying to talk to those Jaffa leaders when everything started hitting the fan." An expression flashed across Daniel's face that gave Jack a bad feeling. "What's wrong?"

Daniel stared at the floor, seconds passing before he answered. Finally, he lifted his eyes to meet Jack's. "I'm leaving the team, Jack."

The colonel desperately hoped that he'd heard wrong. "What?"

"I'm leaving SG-1. I told you before that I might because of Danny."

"Yeah, I know, but I was really hoping that you'd decide not to. We need you, Daniel."

"No, you don't, Jack. I'm not indispensable. I'm not irreplaceable."

"The hell you're not. What, you think that because we survived that year without you, it means that you leaving the team would be no big deal? Well, think again. Sure, we managed to get by without you, but I gotta tell you, Daniel; if I tried to count all the times I wished you'd been there, the times we could really have used you on a mission, I'd fail. And, now, it's a whole new ball game, what with all this Anubis and Lost City stuff. Just the fact that you can read Ancient is a big asset."

"There are other people who can read Ancient, Jack. I've been teaching some of my staff. They've got a long way to go, but they'll get there."

"I don't care, because they are not you! Don't you get that? _Jonas_ was not you. He was an okay guy, weird, but an okay guy. But he never took your place, Daniel, even though he had your spot on the team. That would be impossible. I know you've had reason to doubt it, but, as much as it irks me sometimes, I do recognize the value of your ability to see a side of things that I sometimes can't, and I admire and respect your skills and knowledge.

"May have, might have, a little?" Daniel murmured softly.

Jack frowned in confusion. "What?" And then he suddenly remembered the other time those words had been spoken. They had been among the last words he said in the infirmary to a dying Daniel. His gut tightened. _'Shit.'_ He leaned forward, looking at his friend intently. "Daniel, I was an ass. Worse than that, I was a lousy friend. You didn't deserve that pathetic excuse for a compliment. You deserved so much more. I can't take back what I said then, but I can say now what I should have that day. I _do_ admire you, no 'maybe', no 'might', and a hell of a lot more than 'a little'. Yes, you still are a pain in the ass, but just like I told Edwards, you are damn well worth it."

It made Daniel feel good to know that Jack felt like this, but, at the same time, it made him hurt even more.

"Jack, I don't want to leave SG-1, but I have to do what I think is right. If I died on a mission, what would it do to Danny? What if _all_ of us were killed on a mission?" The images of Daniel's nightmare flashed into his mind. He pushed them away. "Where would that leave him? Who would take care of him? Would Janet adopt yet another orphan? Would somebody else at the SGC take him in? Or would he be shuffled off to some family he doesn't know? I lived seven years of my life with one set of strangers after another. I can't let Danny go through anything like that."

Jack didn't know what to say. Daniel did have a point. If they were all killed on a mission, there would be a big question about Danny's fate. Yes, maybe the doc would take him, but a massive chunk of the foundation Danny stood upon would have been pulled out from under his feet.

But Jack couldn't help but think that, if Daniel left the team, something bad would happen that would otherwise have been prevented, just like Daniel prevented everyone on P3X-403 from being slaughtered by the Unas.

So, what was the right thing to do? Have Daniel leave the team for the sake of a little boy he loved or have him stay, possibly for the sake of many others, maybe even the whole galaxy? Put that way, the answer seemed obvious, but this wasn't that simple.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Daniel said, unaware of his friend's thoughts. "I wish it could be different."

Seeing the pain on Daniel's face, Jack wished that there was an easy answer, something that would work for everyone, but there wasn't. For now, he had to accept Daniel's decision.

"I'm sorry, too, Daniel. We're really going to miss you on the team. Does anyone else know about this?"

"Sam does. I already told her."

That's when Jack realized what had been wrong with Daniel the day of the barbeque and why Sam had suddenly gotten so quiet. "You told her on Saturday."

"Yeah. She could tell something was wrong."

Not wanting his friend to see how upset he was right now, Jack stood. "I'm going to get going. Lots of things to do tomorrow."

Daniel nodded. "I'll probably see you at work. I . . . need to tell Teal'c and General Hammond."

Jack went to the door. Before stepping through it, he looked back at his friend. "I want you to know, Daniel, that, if things ever change, you will always be welcomed back on the team. _Always_."

Before Daniel could reply, Jack was gone. 


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Danny was happy about going to the SGC, which was good because Daniel sure wasn't. It had been really hard telling Jack about his decision, and he knew that it was going to be hard to tell Teal'c as well. At least he could count on Teal'c to be pragmatic about it. The Jaffa would understand and respect Daniel's decision.

Daniel and Danny first went to Sam's lab to see if she could watch the boy while the archeologist talked to Teal'c and Hammond.

When they walked in the room, the look on Sam's face told him that she knew why he was there.

"Hey," she said softly. She then looked at Danny, forcing a smile onto her face. "Hi, Danny."

The boy came up to her and gave her a hug.

"I was wondering if you could watch him while I . . . do some things," Daniel said.

"I would if I could, but that whole fiasco with you know what put me way behind schedule on another project. I'm scrambling to get it done by the deadline," she glanced at her watch, "which is in two hours."

"I'm sorry. We didn't mean to bother you."

"No, that's okay. Try the colonel. Maybe he could watch Danny."

While looking for Jack, Daniel found out that the colonel was in the gym, in the midst of a hand-to-hand combat workout. Not wanting to disturb him, Daniel decided to try Janet instead. On the way to the infirmary, they ran into Siler, who said that he could watch Danny for a while.

Problem solved, Daniel went to Teal'c's quarters.

"Enter," said the voice on the other side in answer to Daniel's knock. He opened the door to find the Jaffa doing what Danny had called Jaffa Tai Chi.

"You'll have to tell me the history of that someday," Daniel said.

"I would be pleased to do so. How may I help you, Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel sat on the bed. "I need to tell you something."

Teal'c took a seat in a chair. "Is there a problem?"

"I've decided to leave SG-1, Teal'c."

It took a brief moment for the Jaffa to answer. "You are making this decision because of your clone?"

"Yes," Daniel replied. "Being on the team, my life is often at risk. Danny already has the memory of losing his parents. I want to do all I can to make sure he doesn't lose me, too."

"Preventing an untimely demise cannot be assured even if you are not on an SG team."

"I know, but at least it reduces the odds. There's also the fact that I won't have to worry about who's going to take care of Danny while I'm on a mission for several days. I'll have regular working hours . . . well, more so than I do now."

Teal'c was silent for a short moment. "Your reasoning is logical, Daniel Jackson, yet the fact remains that the lack of your presence on SG-1 will be a great loss. You have skills that have been instrumental in the success of many missions. I feel that your loss from the team will be a great detriment in our fight against the Goa'uld."

Teal'c's words made Daniel remember what his friend had said that day he lay dying in the infirmary. "I'll still be at the SGC, Teal'c," he said. "I'll still be helping to fight the Goa'uld in whatever ways I can from here."

"I have no doubt that you will, Daniel Jackson. Speaking for myself, however, I will greatly miss your presence on the team."

"I'll miss being with you guys, too," Daniel admitted. "A lot, actually. But I really feel that I need to do this."

Teal'c inclined his head. "Then I will respect your decision."

"Thanks, Teal'c."

"When will you request your transfer?"

"I guess it would be to have it take effect as soon as I come back to work. My original plan was to take a month's leave, which will be up on Tuesday. I may have to extend it, however, since I still don't know what I'm going to do about Danny while I'm at work."

"I have learned that some of your leaders want young Daniel Jackson to be confined to this base. Though I hope that such a decision will not be made, does this not mean that those leaders would not object to him being present on the base for extended lengths of time?"

Daniel paused. "You know, I didn't think about that. Before all this started, I figured that they'd have a problem with Danny being here for any length of time, but if some of them actually want him to live here on a permanent basis, they shouldn't have an issue with him spending a few hours here each day. Thanks, Teal'c. I hope that you've just given me a solution to my problem."

Saying goodbye to Teal'c, Daniel went to Hammond's office. The general was busy with a call, so Daniel waited in the briefing room. As he looked out the window down at the Stargate, it suddenly hit him that he had no idea when he would go through the gate again . . . or if he ever would.

"Daniel? Is something wrong?"

The archeologist turned to General Hammond, realizing that his sad thoughts must have been showing on his face. The man was gazing at him in concern.

"I, um . . . I need to talk to you about something."

"All right. Let's go into my office."

The two men went into the office and sat down.

"I've decided to transfer off SG-1," Daniel told the general.

Because of their earlier conversation, Hammond was not surprised by the announcement, but he was a little dismayed. He had hoped that Daniel would choose to stay on the SGC's premier team.

"I understand, Daniel, although I will admit that I'm sorry to hear this. You are a tremendous asset out there. Your skills on missions will be greatly missed."

Daniel stared at the top of the desk. "It wasn't easy making this decision. I wish it was one that I didn't have to make. But if something were to happen to me on a mission, I don't know what it would do to Danny. I know that Jack or Sam would take care of him if that happened, but what if all of us died? What would happen to Danny then?"

"I do understand your fears, Daniel, and I admire you for sacrificing something I know that you love for Danny's sake, but there is something I want you to know. Even if such a terrible event took place, all of us here would do everything in our power to see that Danny was well taken care of by people who loved him. I know about the life you led as a child and that you fear something similar would happen to Danny, but I swear to you that would never happen. We take care of our own, Daniel, and, as far as we're concerned, that includes Danny."

Daniel gazed at Hammond with deep gratitude. "Thank you, sir."

The older man nodded. "Do you wish your transfer be made effective immediately?"

"As soon as I return from leave. I don't know yet when that will be. It all depends on some things. Have you heard back from the Pentagon yet on this whole thing with Danny?"

"No, but I am expecting a call about it today, hopefully soon. I have confidence that the decision will be favorable. Everyone recognizes how valuable you are to the program."

"Could you contact me as soon as you get an answer? I'll probably be here for another couple of hours or so, let Danny visit with some people."

"As soon as I get the call, I will let you know."

"Thank you, sir. I have another request, but I'll wait until after I know what the answer from the Pentagon is."

After leaving the office, Daniel got Danny from Siler and took him around the base to say hi to a few people. Jack was done with his workout and sought them out. After greeting Danny, his eyes searched Daniel's.

"Did you talk to Teal'c and Hammond?"

"Yeah."

So, it was done, then. Soon, Hammond would be filling out the forms for the transfer. "How much longer are you going to be here today?" Jack asked, keeping his voice and expression neutral.

"For a while yet. There are some people Danny wants to say hi to."

"Maybe we could all have lunch together."

"Sure. We'd like that."

Daniel and Danny met Jack, Sam and Teal'c for lunch in the commissary at noon.

"Did you get your project finished?" Daniel asked the astrophysicist.

"Yes, just in time," she replied.

As they ate, Danny looked around at everyone, wondering why they were all so quiet. They usually talked and had fun during lunch, but nobody was doing that today. Jack was frowning, both Sam and Daniel looked sad, and Teal'c looked. . . . Danny couldn't think of a word for that look.

"Why is everybody unhappy?" he finally asked.

All of the adults froze for a couple of seconds, then Jack, Sam and Teal'c looked at Daniel.

"Um . . . I guess you should know that I've made a decision, Danny," the archeologist said.

"What decision?"

Before Daniel could answer, a request came over the P.A. for him to go to Hammond's office.

"Can you guys watch him for a while?" Daniel asked his teammates. Yes, they were still his teammates, if only for a few more days.

"Sure, Daniel," Jack replied. "You go on and talk to Hammond."

"What's wrong?" Danny asked after Daniel had left. "What decision is Daniel talking about?"

Sam sighed. Would Daniel mind if they told the boy? Probably not. "Daniel's not going to be a part of our team anymore, Danny," she said softly.

"How come?"

The adults shared a glance.

"Because he thinks it would be the best thing to do for you, Danny," Jack replied.

"For me?"

"Yeah. You see, being on an SG team is very dangerous. All of us have almost gotten killed quite a few times. In the end, we've always managed to make it back, but Daniel is afraid that, if he stays on the team, something bad will happen to him."

"He doesn't want you to go through that, Danny, so he's giving up being on the team," Sam explained.

"Because he could get killed?" Danny asked.

"Yeah. He believes that, if he leaves the team, that's less likely to happen."

"Does he want to leave?"

"No, he doesn't," Jack answered, "but he loves you, Danny, and wants to do what's right for you."

"You don't want him to either."

Sam shook her head. "No, we don't. We want him to stay on the team. We're going to miss him."

Danny started getting upset. "He won't be coming here anymore?"

"No, he'll still be working here," Jack told him. "But just on the base."

"He won't be going to other planets through the Stargate?"

"Maybe once in a while."

Danny was still upset. "But Daniel likes going through the Stargate."

"I know, Danny, but he loves you more."

Danny frowned, staring down at his plate.

"Hey. It'll be okay," Jack said. "Yes, we're going to miss having him on the team, but we'll still all see each other. We'll still have fun times together."

Jack's words didn't lift the frown from Danny's face.

"How about if we all go to Daniel's office?" Sam suggested, no longer having any interest in food and guessing that nobody else did either.

"Good idea," Jack responded.

The four people got up and threw away what was left of their lunch, then headed to Daniel's office to await his return.

* * *

"I apologize if I interrupted your lunch, Daniel," Hammond said as the archeologist came into the office.

Daniel took a seat. "It's okay, sir. I wasn't really all that hungry."

"I have some good news for you. Though there were still a couple of people who were against it, the majority have decided to back off in regards to Danny. They agree that the chance of anyone learning about the program through him is small and definitely not worth the cost of losing you from the program."

Daniel relaxed. "That's good news, sir. Thank you."

"You said that you had another request?"

"Um, yeah. There is a problem about what I'm going to do with Danny while I'm working, and he's not in school. Daycare is out of the question right now, and I don't think a babysitter would be a good idea either, unless it was somebody Danny already knew and trusted. So, I was wondering what you and the others in charge would think about Danny being here while I'm at work. He could spend most of the time in my quarters or my office, so he wouldn't get in the way. It's really the only solution I can think of other than remaining on leave for several more weeks."

"Personally, I would not have a problem with Danny being here," Hammond responded. "He is a bright, well-mannered child whom I'm sure would not cause a disturbance. I am not certain, however, how others would react to this."

"Well, if those people in the Pentagon had gotten their way, Danny would be living here 24/7."

"Good point. All right. As the commander of this base, such a decision would primarily be up to me, so you have my permission to keep Danny here while you are on duty. Just be aware that my superiors may countermand that."

Daniel nodded. "Thank you, sir. In that case, I can come back to work on Tuesday, although I'll probably have to take some more time off next month. Escrow on the house I'm buying is due to close on the ninth."

"Very well. I'm sure that your departments will be glad to have you back." Hammond paused for a moment. "I will put through your transfer effective Tuesday."

Any happiness Daniel felt at the other decisions was immediately doused. "Yes, sir."

Hammond had seen the shadow that passed across the younger man's face, but said nothing. Daniel was doing what he felt that he needed to, regardless of how much it hurt him personally. The archeologist's selflessness was one of the qualities that the general greatly admired and respected, yet, in this case, he had to wonder if Daniel's decision was the right one.

Daniel found everyone in his office.

"Well?" Jack inquired.

"The Pentagon backed off."

The colonel, Sam and Teal'c relaxed.

"Thank goodness," Sam said.

"And there's some other good news. General Hammond gave permission for Danny to stay on the base while I'm working."

Danny smiled. "I get to stay here?"

"Yes, during the day, while I'm working. But that's only until you start school, Danny. After that, we'll have to make other arrangements."

Danny's smile faded. "But you're not going to be part of the team anymore."

Daniel looked at his teammates.

"We decided to go ahead and tell him, Daniel," Sam said.

"Oh." Daniel looked at his clone. "Yes, that's right. I'm not going to be on SG-1 anymore. But it'll be okay. I've got lots of work to keep me busy here, plenty of translations and artifacts to study."

Danny frowned. "Will you ever go through the Stargate again?"

"I hope so. Sometimes, there may be something on another planet that somebody needs my help on."

"But what if Jack, Sam, and Teal'c need your help?"

Daniel met the eyes of his teammates and friends, seeing the emotion within. "I . . . I guess if there was some special job that they really needed me for, I could go with them." No, he was _not_ going to think about that nightmare. Something like that was not going to happen.

"But not all the time."

Daniel sighed silently. "No, not all the time."

Sam swallowed the lump in her throat. "When are you coming back to work?"

"Tuesday. The . . . the transfer will take effect then."

Sam felt tears beginning to threaten and decided that she needed to get out of there right now. She quickly got to her feet. "I, um, need to get back to work." She gave Danny a hug. "I'll see you later, okay?" She then hurried out.

Daniel kept his eyes on the floor, hoping to hide his sorrow from Danny. He heard Jack rise from his seat, then he felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder. He didn't dare look up into the man's eyes.

"We'll come over tomorrow, Daniel," Jack said, his voice soft and low. He then ruffled Danny's hair. "See you later, kiddo."

Teal'c was the last to leave. He gazed for a moment at the man who would soon no longer be his teammate. Then, with a soft touch on the cheek of the boy who was the man's clone, he, too, left.

Danny looked at Daniel. He could tell that the man was very sad, and it really upset him. He hated seeing Daniel feel like that.

"You're really sad about not being on the team anymore," he said.

Daniel lifted his head to meet the boy's eyes. "Yes, but I'll be okay. I'll be sad for a while, but it'll get better."

"Jack and Sam said that you're leaving the team because of me. Does that mean it's my fault?"

"No," Daniel replied quickly. "This is not your fault, Danny. I made this decision because I want what's best for you. I know that you're afraid I'll die, and I know that, if I _did_ die, it would really hurt you. I don't want that to happen, and leaving the team means that there's less of a chance that it will. Something might still happen to me. I can't promise that it won't, but not being on the team puts me in less danger."

"If you're not on the team anymore, can you and Sam be together?"

Daniel sighed. He should have known that question would come up. "No. We're still not going to be together, Danny."

"But why?"

"It's just too hard to explain."

Danny's frown returned. Daniel wasn't going to be on the team anymore, and he wasn't going to get to be with Sam either. The boy was not happy about this at all. "What would happen if you stayed on the team?"

Daniel searched his eyes. "Do you really want to know?"

Danny nodded.

"Well, first of all, there would be times when I'd be gone for more than a day. We sometime go on missions that take a few days. But what's worse is that I could get killed on a mission. I didn't tell you this before because I didn't want to scare you, but I have already died more than once on a mission or because of one."

Danny's eyes widened. "You have?"

"Yes. But every time, something happened to . . . bring me back to life. That doesn't mean, though, that the next time it happened, I would be saved."

"What about Uncle Jack, Sam and Teal'c? Have they ever died?"

"Yes, they have. But they got lucky, too."

"Could they die again?"

"Yes, that danger is always there, Danny. I hope that will never happen, but it could."

"But, if it happens, you won't be there to save them," Danny objected.

Dammit. The specter of Daniel's nightmare came back again. "Actually, I'm usually not the one who does the saving, Danny."

"That's not what Uncle Jack said."

This time, it was Daniel who frowned. "What did he say?"

"He said that there were lots of missions that wouldn't have ended okay if you hadn't been on the team. He said that you've saved lots and lots of people."

"Um . . . I'm sure that he was exaggerating, Danny. Yes, I have helped on missions, especially because I'm good at translating things and have sometimes been able to talk to people and calm them down. But they'll be okay without me. I'm going to help Jack pick somebody to replace me on the team who will be able to help them like I did."

For some reason, that seemed to upset Danny even more. "There's going to be somebody else on the team in place of you?"

"Yes. SG teams are usually four people, so they'll need someone new to take my place."

Danny didn't say any more.

"Do you want to go home now?" the archeologist asked him. He received a nod.

Danny was silent during the trip back, and Daniel had to wonder what the boy was thinking. It was obvious that Danny wasn't happy about Daniel leaving the team. It probably wouldn't take long, however, for the boy to accept it. In a week or two it would be fine, especially if Jack, Sam and Teal'c helped by making Danny believe that they were okay with it, too. Daniel would have to talk to them about that.

Danny was quiet for the remainder of the day, mostly drawing. Daniel spent the time catching up on the magazines he subscribed to, attempting to keep his mind off the fact that the next time he entered the SGC, he would no longer be a part of SG-1.

That night, after Danny had gone to bed, Daniel gathered up the pictures Danny had drawn. One of them halted his movements. It showed four figures that were obviously Daniel and his teammates. Jack, Sam and Teal'c were standing in front of a big circle that could only be the Stargate. Daniel was standing off to the side, waving at them. What upset the archeologist was that all of the figures were sad.

With a deep sigh, Daniel sat at the table, staring at the picture. He'd made this decision mostly for Danny's sake, but all he'd succeeded in doing was making everyone unhappy, _including_ Danny. He wished that he could make the boy understand the magnitude of the threat that being on an SG team posed to Daniel's life. But he couldn't tell the boy the horror stories of what they faced out there. He couldn't put that kind of fear into Danny's mind.

Daniel's teammates came over the next afternoon. For Danny's sake, they all put on happy faces, well, except for Teal'c, of course, who put on a face that was simply not _un_happy. Daniel knew that this visit was a goodbye of sorts, though he would still be at the SGC.

Daniel's teammates took him and Danny out to the movies to see a new family film. They ate popcorn and candy and, after it was over, talked about what they liked and didn't like about the movie. Everybody tried very hard to forget that the clock was ticking down on Daniel's departure from the team, but it remained in the back of their minds.

They ate dinner at Taco Bell, then returned to Daniel's house, where a game of Scrabble was started. Jack knew that he was way outmatched by both Daniel and Sam, but he needed something to keep his mind occupied, even if it meant getting creamed by the geniuses of SG-1.

Crap. Come Tuesday, only half of that last statement would be true. He wished that there was something he could do to change this, some way to keep Daniel on the team yet also magically give Danny the security of knowing that the man who took care of him wouldn't get killed on a mission. Obviously, that was not possible.

The game was drawing to a close, Daniel, as usual, in the lead, when Danny walked up to the archeologist.

"I don't want you to leave SG-1," he said.

Daniel stared at him. "What? Danny, I explained why I'm leaving."

"I know, but I don't want you to leave. It's making everyone sad, and it means that you'll hardly ever go to other planets anymore, and you won't be saving any more people like Jack said you do. You need to be on SG-1."

"But, Danny, if I stay on the team, I could get killed on a mission."

Danny's gaze fell. It frightened him to know that Daniel could be killed, that, someday, this man he loved so much could go though the Stargate and never come back. He didn't want to lose Daniel. But he also didn't want everyone to be unhappy, and he wanted Daniel to be exploring other planets and helping people like he had been.

"I know," he said, "but I thought about this a really long time. Mom and Dad always told me that being selfish was wrong, that you should do things for other people more than for yourself. If I let you leave SG-1 so that I wouldn't be afraid of you getting killed, that would be selfish."

Everyone gaped at the wisdom being shown by this young child. Daniel's teammates realized that they were getting a look into what had built the very foundation of the man that Daniel was, the core of selflessness that was at the heart of so many things he did. They had always wondered where it came from, and now they knew.

"Danny, I. . . ." Daniel was at a loss for words. This had really knocked him for a loop. "If . . . if I stay on SG-1, then _I'd_ be selfish, because it wouldn't be the best thing for you and your future."

"No, it wouldn't be selfish, because you'd be doing what I want you to, and that would make me happy. And you'd be doing what Jack, Sam and Teal'c want you to and making them happy, too. Making other people happy isn't being selfish; it's the opposite."

Daniel looked at his teammates, who were all gazing at him with hope in their eyes. They said nothing, their eyes speaking for them.

"I . . . I need to take a walk," he said, standing abruptly. He hurried out the door and away from the house. He did not go far, though, stopping before he reached the end of his property. His eyes turned upward to the stars. What was he going to do? There was a war going on inside him between the side that wanted so badly to stay on SG-1 and give everyone what they wanted and the side that was thinking about Danny's welfare and wanted to give the boy as stable a life as possible.

And then there was the other issue, the one with Sam. If he stayed on SG-1, they'd have to deal with these feelings between them while on missions. Could they do it? It wouldn't be easy. In fact, at times, it would probably be sheer torture. But Sam had already made her feelings known about this. She didn't want Daniel to leave the team because of this thing between them. So, would it really be fair to her to do it anyway?

Daniel kept thinking about the quandary he now found himself in. He'd never thought that it would be possible to be selfish by being _un_selfish, yet that's basically what this amounted to. If he did what really was the best thing for Danny, leaving the team, he'd be hurting everyone emotionally, including Danny. Daniel couldn't factor in the contribution he made on missions. Despite his nightmare, he still felt that, with the right person to take his place, SG-1 could be as effective as it was with him. So, in the end, the reason to stay, or _not_ stay, would be a personal one. But which decision was the right one?

* * *

From the moment Daniel walked out the door, the house had been silent. Daniel's teammates knew that this decision would be a hard one for the archeologist. There was no black and white here, no right and wrong, not when looking at the entire picture. What was right in some ways was wrong in another. They all knew that, when it came to the welfare of the galaxy, Daniel staying on the team was the right decision, but they also knew that he didn't believe his contribution was all that vital, that he was easily replaceable. They doubted that anything would change that mind-set. Sometimes, humility was not a good thing.

Jack looked over at the little boy. "Come here, Danny." The child walked up to him, and he lifted Danny up onto his lap. "I want you to know something. No matter what Daniel decides, I am very, very proud of you. I know that you're afraid Daniel will die on a mission. Putting aside that fear and doing what you think is the right thing for everyone else is one of the bravest, most unselfish things I've ever seen. It's like the things that I have seen Daniel do many times since I first met him. He has sacrificed a great deal for the sake of other people."

"Has he sacrificed his life?"

The question startled everyone.

"It's okay. Daniel told me that he's died more than once already," Danny told them.

"Then, yes, he has sacrificed his life for others, including me," Jack replied.

"He's a good person."

"Yes, he is, Danny, the best person anyone could be."

"I want to be like him when I grow up, and like Mom and Dad, too."

Jack smiled, ruffling the boy's hair. "I'm sure you will be, squirt."

Sam gathered up the pieces of the Scrabble game and put it away. Unlike the rest of them, she knew that there was another reason for Daniel's decision to leave. That reason still existed, and she was desperately hoping that it wouldn't be what made him choose to still leave SG-1.

Everyone turned to the door as it opened. They were nearly holding their breath as Daniel came toward them.

"I've given it a lot of thought. I know that no matter what decision I make, it's going to be the wrong one in some way, but . . . but I've made what I hope is the best choice that I can make."

"Which is?" Jack asked.

"Staying on SG-1."

Four big smiles was the response Daniel got to the announcement.

"Yippee!" Danny cheered. He ran up to Daniel and wrapped his arms around the man. "I'm so glad that you're staying on the team. Now, everybody will be happy."

Daniel's teammates came forward. Sam gave Daniel a hug.

"I'm so glad you're not leaving," she whispered near his ear.

"That goes double for me," Jack said.

"I am very pleased as well, Daniel Jackson," stated Teal'c.

"First thing in the morning, you need to call Hammond and tell him not to file those transfer papers."

Daniel smiled, his heart feeling light. "I will."

"And then, all five of us are going to go do something really fun. You've got just two days left of your leave, and most of this time you've been doing stuff that wasn't fun. So, Doctor Jackson, your teammates are going to show you and Danny a good time."

"But don't you have to work?"

"I'm sure that the general will give us the time off if we tell him what it's for."

"Okay. That would be nice."

"Great!" Jack looked at his watch. "Looks to me like it's way past the bedtime of a certain short person."

"But I don't want to go to bed," Danny declared, which was the first time he'd said that.

"Hey, you need to get plenty of sleep for tomorrow. Don't want you getting tired."

"What are we going to do?" Danny asked excitedly.

"I've got a few ideas. Depends on what I can arrange." He turned his attention to Daniel. "Give me a call after you've given Hammond the news."

"Okay."

Sam, Jack and Teal'c all gave Danny a hug goodbye, then left. A while later, Danny was in bed and Daniel was back outside, his gaze once more on the stars. He hoped that the decision he had made tonight would turn out to be the right one. He wanted to believe that it was since it was what he wanted in his heart and what everyone else wanted as well. But only time would tell if it was a decision he'd be glad he made or one he'd regret. 


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

General Hammond was delighted by Daniel's announcement. When, a few minutes later, Jack called to ask if the rest of SG-1 could have the remainder of Daniel's leave off as well so that they could all do something fun together, Hammond immediately said yes. He could hear the joy in the colonel's voice and knew that joy was being mirrored in Sam and Teal'c.

An hour and a half later, SG-1 and Danny were all piled into Jack's jeep. The colonel's teammates were surprised when he drove them to the Colorado Springs airport.

"Where are we going?" Daniel asked, wondering what Jack had up is sleeve.

"Oh, not far," was the gray-haired man's reply. He drove them to where the hangers for the private planes were, coming to a stop beside two planes that were sitting outside one of the hangers.

"Oh, sir, they're beautiful," Sam exclaimed in delight.

Everyone got out to gaze at the Stearman biplanes. One was canary yellow, the other fire engine red.

A smiling man came forward. Jack stepped up to him, and the men exchanged a hearty handshake.

"Jimmy! How's it going?" Jack asked, smiling.

"Oh, can't complain. Wouldn't do any good if I did anyway."

"Jimmy, I'd like you to meet some friends of mine. Daniel, Sam, Murray and Danny." The teammates had already told Danny that, in public, Teal'c went by the name of Murray, so the boy did not question it.

"Nice to meet you. I know that any friends of Jack's must be good people."

Jack stepped toward the biplanes. "So, are these beauties all ready to go?"

"Yep, all gassed up and checked out." Jimmy looked up into the cloudless sky. "It's a glorious day for flying."

Danny's eyes got huge. "We're going flying?"

Jack grinned down at him. "We sure are."

"Oh, wow!"

The phone rang inside the hanger, and Jimmy excused himself to answer it.

"So, what do you think, Carter? Would you like to get your hands on the controls of one of these babies?"

Sam smiled brightly. "Would I ever, sir. I have always wanted to fly a biplane."

"Well, as a man who's flown all kinds of aircraft – and spacecraft – there is nothing more fun than a biplane. You're gonna love it. Maybe Teal'c would like to try his hand at it, too."

The Jaffa took a look inside one of the cockpits. "The controls appear quite primitive."

"That's the beauty of it," Jack responded. "This is pure stick-and-rudder flying. No computers to get in the way of the experience. You are totally in control. It's like you and the plane are one."

"It would be interesting to fly such a craft."

"Great. Okay, how about if Carter and I do the flying on the first round, then Teal'c and Daniel can go the second round?"

"W-w-wait a minute," Daniel stammered. "You want me to fly one?"

"Sure, why not? You've flown spaceships. Why not one of these?"

"That's quite a bit different, Jack. As you just pointed out, Tel'tak and Al'Kesh have advanced computer systems that do the flying. All I tell them is which way to go. This," he waved his hand at the planes, "is not even remotely like that."

"Oh, come on, Daniel. Where's your spirit of adventure?"

"Uhhhh . . . here on the ground."

"Hey, you don't have to worry, Daniel. There are controls in both the front and the back. If you get into trouble, I can bail you out."

Frowning, Daniel looked into one of the cockpits, starring at the stick and pedals. Dare he do this? He had to admit that a tiny part of him was curious about what it would be like to fly an airplane. And, if he screwed up, Jack would be there to take over.

"Okay, I guess I can try."

"Can I try, too?" Danny asked.

"You bet, kiddo," Jack replied.

Jimmy came back out. "All ready to go up?"

"We sure are."

"Okay, as you already know, any aerobatics need to be done away from the airport."

"Yep. We'll take them out where they won't conflict with any other air traffic."

"All right, then. Have fun, you guys. Oh, and be back by one o'clock, okay? I've got a customer coming out for a lesson."

"Will do." Jack turned to Danny. "So, which plane do you want to ride in?"

"The red one!" the boy immediately answered.

While Sam and Teal'c got into the yellow plane, Jack helped Daniel and Danny fit into the "passenger" seat of the red one, the boy sitting between Daniel's legs. The plane had been outfitted with a special seatbelt that would safely strap both of them in. Jimmy had taken up a parent and child many times in the past.

"Okay, the only thing you have to do, Daniel, is keep your knees out of the way of the stick," Jack instructed. "Oh, and don't get sick. It's not fun throwing up when you're upside down."

Danny's eyes lit up. "We're going to fly upside down?"

"You bet we are. We'll be doing all kinds of fun things."

"That's what I was afraid of," Daniel muttered, hoping that he'd manage to keep his breakfast.

Once Daniel and Danny had their helmets on, Jack got into his cockpit and donned his helmet. All of the helmets had headsets in them, which would not only allow Jack to talk with the tower and with Sam in the other plane, but to Daniel and Danny as well.

Jack called over to Sam and told her to switch to a certain frequency.

"Radio check. Can you hear me, Carter?"

"Yes, sir, loud and clear."

"Okay, I'll take the lead. We're going to head southeast, down into the lower elevations. Once we're there, the skies the limit. I'm going to take Daniel and Danny on the ride of their lives, and I expect you to do the same for Teal'c. I have complete confidence that you can learn the controls in no time. Just remember that there is no computer. That stick is linked directly to the ailerons and elevator, and the pedals give you direct control of the rudder."

"Yes, sir," Sam replied, grinning. "This is going to be fun."

"Okay, let's get these babies started."

The roar of engines filled the air a moment later. With Jack in the lead, the two biplanes left the hanger area and headed for one of the runways. Several minutes later, they were airborne. Danny was grinning like crazy as he watched the ground fall away beneath them. It wasn't the first time he'd been on a plane, not by a long shot, but it was the first time he'd been in an open cockpit. Having the wind in his face and no windows between him and the experience of flying was incredible. As they soared higher into the sky, the houses, roads and people below growing tiny with distance, the boy felt a sensation inside him that he couldn't describe, something he'd never felt before. Whatever it was, it felt wonderful.

Jack's voice sounded in his ear. "Do you feel it, Danny?"

"Yeah. What is it, Uncle Jack?"

"That's the feeling of freedom, Danny, the pure, sweet feeling that only flying can give you."

"I like it, Uncle Jack. It feels really good."

"Yes, it does. How are _you_ doing, Daniel?"

The archeologist gazed all about. Throughout his life, he had been on dozens of flights, and they had always been just a way to get from point A to point B, but this was different, though he didn't know why. Maybe it was the open cockpit. Maybe it was the child he held in his arms. Perhaps it was just because he was already feeling happy before the flight began. Whatever it was, he was enjoying this way more than any other flying experience.

"I'm doing good, Jack," he replied.

It was not long before they reached the location Jack had picked. He got on the radio to Sam.

"How's it going over there, Carter?"

"Fantastic, sir."

"You all set to do some fancy stuff?"

"You bet."

"Okay, you two," Jack then said to his passengers. "Hang on!"

With those words, Jack abruptly aimed the plane's nose upward in a steep climb. Danny burst into joyful laughter, which got even louder as Jack spun the plane a few times like a corkscrew. Then they were heading straight up. Moments later, the engine stalled, and the plane came to a stop. It hung motionless for a brief moment, then fell sideways, the nose soon pointing straight down at the ground. Within moments, the engine caught, and they were zooming down like an arrow. About a thousand feet above the ground, Jack pulled up on the stick and leveled the plane. Then, suddenly, they were flying upside down. Danny screamed in absolute delight.

"More! More! More!" he cried.

"You got it, buddy," Jack answered, smiling. He put the plane in a barrel roll, then did an inside loop, listening to the sound of Danny's laughter and squeals of joy all the way.

Jack leveled the plane out. "You still with us back there, Daniel?"

"Uh . . . yeah, I'm still here."

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Jack. This can't compare to what that first trip through the gate did to my stomach."

"Good. Are you up for some more?"

"I guess so. Just warn me ahead of time if you plan on stalling the plane again."

Oops. Yes, maybe an advance warning for the Hammerhead Stall would have been a good idea. Jack grinned. "Will do."

Jack put the plane through a few more maneuvers, then decided it was time to go back and switch pilots. He got on the radio to Sam.

"Hey, Carter. You having fun?"

"Woohoo!" was the reply. "This is so great! I had no idea it was this much fun. And Teal'c's having fun, too. You should have heard him laughing."

Jack chuckled. It was great to know that the big guy was enjoying himself.

"We're going to head back to the airport now and give Daniel a turn at flying this thing."

"I'll be right on your six, sir."

"Carter?"

"Jack. On your six, Jack," Sam corrected herself.

"That's better."

The two pilots took the planes back to the airport. They pulled them over to where some other private planes sat and shut down their engines. Everyone got out. Jack smiled at the look he saw on Daniel's face, sort of a dazed yet happy look. Yep, Daniel had enjoyed the flight. Then Jack got a look at Teal'c and had to stop himself from grinning. The Jaffa's eyes were alight with wonder.

"So, did you like it, Teal'c?"

"It was most enjoyable, O'Neill."

"You ready to take the controls?"

The Jaffa smiled. "Indeed."

"Just remember that it's not a death glider."

"I will strive to do so, O'Neill, though it would be interesting to see what speeds this craft can attain in a steep dive."

"Ooh, Carter, something tells me you'd better buckle up extra tight." Jack turned back to his passengers. "How about you, Daniel? Ready for your first flying lesson?"

"I'm, uh, not so sure about this. You don't expect me to do any of that stuff you did, do you?"

"Nah. Straight and level's just fine."

Daniel looked at the plane. "Well . . . all right."

"Good. Come on."

Once Daniel was in the pilot's cockpit and strapped in, Jack explained the controls and the basics of flying, making sure Daniel understood.

"Do you want to try the take-off or shall I get us in the air?" Jack asked.

"You'd better do it."

"All right. Come on, Danny. You're sitting with me this time."

A while later they were airborne again. Jack waited until they were a safe distance from the airport before handing the controls over to Daniel. The archeologist was terrified at first, afraid that he'd crash the plane and kill them all, but, after a few minutes, he began to relax. Jack's voice was in his ear, instructing him through gentle turns. This was definitely not like flying a Tel'tak through the depths of space, when the sensation of flying was unnoticeable. Here, he could feel the plane respond to the movements of his hand on the stick and feet on the pedals.

Before Daniel realized it, he was enjoying himself, smiling as he banked to the left and then to the right. At Jack's command, he took the plane higher. He looked over to the right and saw a yellow object in the distance that he knew was Teal'c and Sam.

Finally, they reached the place where they'd gone to on the previous flight.

"You up for something a bit fancier?" Jack asked Daniel.

"Um, I don't know. How fancy?"

"Wanna try for upside down? I'll keep my hand on the stick in case you need help."

Daniel thought about it for a moment. "Okay, I can try."

Jack very carefully explained how to flip the plane upside down, which was actually quite simple in a biplane.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, Daniel followed Jack's instructions. To his amazement, they were suddenly flying upside down. His first instinct was to get the plane upright, but he curbed it.

"Perfect, Daniel. You did great," Jack praised.

They flew inverted for a few moments, then Jack told Daniel how to turn the plane upright.

"Okay, how about a roll next? You do pretty much the same thing as we just did except that you don't stop the plane from turning until it's gone all the way around."

"Okay."

Daniel succeeded in rolling the plane, although he ended up waiting too long to stop the roll and made part of a second one. He didn't overreact, though, and straightened the plane.

"Daniel, I think you're a natural," Jack said. "Who'd have guessed? Okay, the next one is easy. We're going to do an inside loop."

Daniel listened to Jack's instructions, then performed the maneuver. Up they soared into a big loop, then back down, Jack telling Daniel when to start leveling them out.

"How does it feel, Daniel?" Jack asked.

"It feels . . . it feels good, Jack. I think I understand why you love flying."

The colonel smiled. He looked down at the boy sitting in front of him. "Would you like to try, Danny?"

"Yeah! But I can't reach the pedals."

"That's okay. I'll do the pedals. You can just do the stick."

Daniel surrendered control of the plane to Jack, who told Danny where to put his hands. As soon as the boy had a good grip on the stick, Jack released it, keeping his hand hovering close in case he had to grab it.

His eyes wide and shining, Danny flew the plane. When Jack told him to pull the stick to the left, he did, then, on Jack's command, he pulled it to the right. Then he pulled it toward him to go up and pushed it away from him to go down. Every once in a while, Jack's hand came out and adjusted the stick a little bit, but the boy was doing great, and the look on his face spoke volumes, most likely the same look that had been on Jack's face the first time he was given control of a plane.

Finally, it was time to go back. Taking control of the plane, Jack contacted Sam and Teal'c, just in time to hear a deep base laugh.

"Having fun there, big guy?" Jack asked with a grin.

"Indeed, O'Neill. This craft is quite enjoyable to fly."

"Glad to hear it. I'm afraid it's time to head back, though."

They aimed their planes back toward the airport.

"You want to take her again, Daniel?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. Thanks."

Daniel flew the plane until they were a few miles from the airport, then Jack took over. Once they were on the ground, the colonel taxied the plane back to Jimmy's hanger, Teal'c and Sam right behind them.

Jimmy came walking up to them. "So, did you have fun?"

"Yeah!" Danny replied, grinning from ear to ear. "Uncle Jack let me fly."

Jimmy chuckled. "He did. Liked it, did you?"

The boy's head bobbed up and down energetically.

"How much do I owe you for the gas, Jimmy?" Jack asked.

The man waved his hand. "Nothin', Jack. I owed you one. We'll call it even."

The colonel shook the man's hand, as did Daniel and Teal'c. SG-1 and Danny then got in the jeep and headed into town. Danny went on and on about the experience, relating what Jack had done when he was flying the plane, then what he and Daniel had done.

"How did you like it, Daniel?" Sam asked.

"I'm surprised to say that I had fun."

"Including when you were flying the plane yourself?"

"Yes, then, too."

Sam smiled. She really hadn't known if Daniel would like flying a plane, and it was great to hear that he did.

They were all starving and went to lunch. Afterwards, they went to a video arcade. Daniel had no interest in the video games, but played a game of air hockey with each of his teammates. Jack made a comment about Daniel being willing to play air hockey but not liking the real game. Daniel retorted that, in air hockey, only the puck was being slammed into the walls of the 'rink'.

Later, Daniel sat and watched as Jack, Sam and Teal'c drove go-carts around a track, Danny sitting with Jack. A smile came to the archeologist's lips. Just yesterday, he was full of sorrow, thinking about what he would be losing when he left SG-1. Now, he couldn't be happier. Daniel's eyes went to the figure of Sam as she zoomed around the track. No, that wasn't exactly true. He could be happier.

Refusing to let anything spoil the joy of the day, Daniel pushed that thought aside and focused on watching his friends.

After the go-cart ride was over, they all got some ice cream.

"This has really been fun," Sam remarked. "I haven't had this much fun in more years than I can remember."

"Yes, it has been a great day, hasn't it," Jack agreed.

"What are we going to do next?" Danny asked.

"Oh, I think us old fogeys need a break. How about if we go to the park, and you can play on the swings for a while?"

"Okay."

After finishing their ice cream, they did just that. SG-1 sat at a picnic table as Danny played.

"Well, I shouldn't have any trouble sleeping tonight," Daniel commented. He looked at his teammates. "Thanks, guys. This was great."

"Yes, it was," Jack said, "but you deciding to stay on the team is even better, Daniel."

"Yes, it is," Sam said fervently.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.

Daniel was about to respond when he suddenly gasped. An instant later, they heard a cry of pain. Daniel was off the bench and running across the grass before the others had time to move. The archeologist rushed to Danny. The boy was sitting on the ground, holding his knee. Daniel went down beside him.

"Danny?"

"I fell and hurt my knee," the boy said. He wasn't crying, but there was pain in his eyes.

"Let me see," Daniel instructed gently. He pulled Danny's hands away from the injury. There was a bit of blood on the boy's pants and a hole in the material. Daniel rolled up the pant leg to reveal a minor cut.

"I've got some band-aids in the car," Jack said and went to get them. Sam knelt beside Danny and dabbed at the wound with a tissue.

"You okay, Danny?" Daniel asked.

The boy nodded. "I broke my arm once when I fell off a wall. That hurt a lot worse."

"Yes, it did," Daniel agreed, remembering the incident.

Jack returned with the band-aid, and Daniel put it on.

"We should take him home and clean it to make sure there's no dirt in the wound," the archeologist said.

"But I don't want to go home," Danny objected. "I want us to keep having fun."

"We can do that, squirt," Jack told him. "We just need to get you cleaned up first and change your pants."

At home, Daniel cleaned the wound and put a fresh band-aid on it. Danny then went into the bedroom to change his pants.

"Daniel? You sensed it, didn't you," Sam said.

"Yeah. It was the weirdest thing. There was this flash in my mind, a burst of thoughts and mental images. I think I saw grass. Even though I didn't actually feel the pain, I . . . sort of heard it in his thoughts." Daniel shook his head. "It's hard to explain. I just knew that he'd been hurt."

"Well, this definitely confirms that this thing works both ways," Jack remarked. "I say that we keep this to ourselves. We've already had to deal with the Pentagon. I don't want those guys at Area 51 showing too much interest and deciding that they want to do a bunch of tests. I'm surprised that hasn't already happened."

Daniel looked toward the bedroom. "What's taking Danny so long?"

He and the others went to see what was keeping the boy. They stopped and smiled at the sight before them. Danny was asleep on the bed, apparently having conked out in the midst of putting the clean pants on.

"Well, it looks like we won't be going anyplace else for a while," Jack commented, "which, truth be told, is fine with me. I'm ready for a beer and a couch."

Daniel got Danny laying the right way on the bed, then the teammates gathered with beers – or juice, in the case of Teal'c – in the living room.

"When did you say escrow closes on your new place?" Jack asked.

"The ninth."

"Right after your birthday? Sweet."

"Yes, speaking of my birthday, I don't know what you had planned, Jack, but singing waiters or telegram deliverers had better not be part of it."

"Damn. How about skimpily clad girls jumping out of cakes?"

"No," both Daniel and Sam replied. Jack stared at his 2IC, whose face was flaming.

"I, um, just figured that would be terribly embarrassing for Daniel," she stammered.

"Embarrassing is right," Daniel agreed, choosing not to think about the real reason for Sam's objection. "Besides, that's something you do at a stag party, not a birthday party. I really don't want anything special, just a quiet day with friends."

"This birthday means a lot to us, Daniel," Jack said quietly.

Daniel met his eyes. "I know, Jack, and it means a lot to me that you guys feel that way." His gaze went to the bedroom. "This birthday is going to be kind of special for me, too."

By the time Danny woke up, most places were closed, so they played Monopoly instead. They had pizza delivered for dinner. The evening was finished off with a showing of the original Star Wars movie, Teal'c's favorite film. Danny loved it, cheering when the Death Star blew up.

"Have you ever done anything like that?" he asked.

The teammates all looked at each other.

"As a matter of fact, we have," Jack replied, "though it wasn't a Death Star that we blew up."

"Was it a spaceship?"

"Well, _part_ of one, an important part."

"Cool."

"Oh, yes. Very cool."

A while later, his teammates all having gone home, Daniel tucked Danny into bed.

"Today was lots of fun," the boy said.

"Yes, it was."

"I'm glad you're not leaving SG-1."

Daniel smiled down at him. "I am, too, Danny."

* * *

The flight in the biplanes is based, in part, on my own experience. Though I'm not a pilot, I've had the opportunity to fly in all kinds of different aircraft, including ultralights, a glider, a helicopter and an experimental plane. But, out of all of them, my flight in a biplane was the best. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life, one that I will never forget. That feeling of freedom Danny experienced is one that I have felt myself, and it is amazing. 


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The next day, SG-1 and Danny headed off to Denver, where, among other things, they went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Everyone had a good time, including Jack, who didn't even once make noises about having to suffer through a lot of science and archeological stuff. Though not as exciting as the previous day, that Monday was full of great times for the child and four adults, and they all knew that they'd cherish the memories they took to bed with them.

Danny accompanied Daniel to work the next morning. While the archeologist worked in his office, the boy spent his time either on the computer or reading. The day went by pretty peacefully until, around two o'clock, Danny suddenly asked a question for which Daniel was unprepared.

"Why don't you want anyone to know that you love Sam romantically?"

Daniel sat frozen in his chair for several seconds before answering. "Uh . . . well, there's more than one reason, but the biggest one is that if people here at the SGC knew, it could cause problems."

"So, it's only people here that you don't want to know?"

"Mainly, but also anyone who's in the military."

"So, if another lady gave me her phone number to give to you because she likes you, I could tell her that you already like Sam that way?"

Daniel smiled. "Yes, that would be fine, Danny."

"It wouldn't be breaking my promise?"

"Ah, well, how about if that promise is only for people here at the SGC and other people in the military? I'm not going to worry if you mention it in public and some stranger overhears."

Danny smiled. "Okay. I won't tell anybody here or in the military."

* * *

Roberto D'Antoni reached for the ringing telephone. "Roberto's."

"Hello? Is this the romantic restaurant?"

Surprised, Roberto didn't answer for a moment, never having received a call from a child before. "Si. This restaurant is very romantic."

"Is that 'si' in Spanish or 'si' in Italian?"

Even more surprised, Roberto replied that it was Italian.

"Oh. I don't know very much Italian yet."

Roberto smiled, wondering who this child could be. "I am certain you will learn, my young friend. What may I ask are you calling for?"

"First, I need to know if you're in the military."

Completely baffled by the question, Roberto answered that he wasn't.

"Okay, then it's all right to tell you. I'm Danny, and I want my . . . my dad and Sam to go on a romantic dinner because it would make my dad really happy if they could be together, but I don't know how to make them go on a romantic dinner, so I was hoping you could help me."

A big smile began growing on Roberto's face. So, he had a little matchmaker on the phone. How delightful. He gestured to Angelica, one of their hostesses, beckoning her over. The woman put her ear up to the phone.

"So, young Danny, your father is in love with this Sam but fears to do anything about it?"

"Uh huh. He says that they should be just friends, but there aren't any rules that say they have to be just friends. And I know that Sam really likes my dad, too. She said she did. I want them to go on a romantic dinner so that they stop being just friends."

Roberto and Angelica exchanged a glance, smiling.

"Well, my young friend," the man said. "It appears that we may need to make this a surprise romantic dinner."

"A surprise?"

"Yes. Then they must be tricked into going on it."

"How would we trick them?"

Roberto and Angelica had a quick conversation.

"Listen carefully, Danny," Roberto said into the receiver. "I must ask you some questions, and then I will tell you what you must do."

* * *

Danny quickly hung up the phone as Daniel came into the house. He'd been waiting since yesterday for an opportunity to call the restaurant without Daniel being around. After getting home from the SGC today, the archeologist had realized that they needed bread and milk and asked Danny if it would be okay for him to stay at home while Daniel made a quick run to the store. The boy had immediately said yes, knowing this would be his chance to make the call.

Danny hoped that he'd be able to remember all the things Roberto had told him. They had to be really careful, otherwise Daniel or Sam would figure out what was going on and put a stop to it.

The plan would go into action tomorrow. The following day was the Fourth of July, which Roberto said was good because it meant that both Daniel and Sam didn't have to work that day, meaning that they could stay up really late tomorrow night. The restauranteur had told Danny that there was an important requirement for the plan to be a success, and it would be up to Danny to find a way to do it. That would be Step One in the plan, and Danny had come up with what he thought was the perfect thing.

That first step took place the next morning not long after they arrived at the SGC.

"If Uncle Jack says it's okay, can I sleep at his house tonight?" Danny asked Daniel.

"Um, sure, I don't see why not. You know that the party is at his place tomorrow, right?"

"Uh huh. I can help him get all the stuff ready."

Daniel smiled. "I'm sure he'd really appreciate that."

Jack was delighted to have Danny spend the night. He suggested that he could take Danny home with him after work, which would save Daniel the effort of driving the boy over there later. Danny already had a change of clothes at Jack's place, the clothing Jack had packed for him when he was going to spend the night there after Daniel had his accident.

Danny was cheering on the inside. It had worked! Roberto had explained that the only way for Daniel and Sam to go on their surprise dinner was if somebody else was watching Danny for the evening. The boy had decided that asking if he could stay at Jack's would work perfectly.

A little while later, Danny asked Daniel his second question, the next step in the plan. "Can I play with my toys in our room?"

"Sure, that would be fine."

Daniel grabbed the box of toys and games that he'd brought with them, and the two went to their quarters.

"So, you'll be okay here by yourself?" Daniel asked.

"Uh huh."

"If you need anything, you know how to call me. The number to my office is right there by the phone, along with Jack's, Sam's and Teal'c's."

"Okay."

Shortly after Daniel left, Danny did make a phone call, but it wasn't to Daniel's office. The boy had learned how to make calls outside the base, and he now made use of that knowledge, dialing the code to get an outside line, then the number he'd written on a piece of paper.

"Roberto? This is Danny," the child said to the person who answered the phone.

"Hello, Danny. So, is our plan working?"

"Uh huh. I'm going to be staying with Uncle Jack tonight."

"Excellent! Then we will get busy on our part of the plan right away. You just need to make sure that your father and Sam are going home right after work and are not going to be working late."

"I will."

After hanging up with Roberto, Danny called Sam's lab to see about the first half of Step Two.

"Hi, Danny," the astrophysicist greeted. "What are you doing right now?"

"I'm playing in the VIP room. I'm going to be spending the night at Jack's so that I can help him with all the party stuff tomorrow."

"Well, that's really nice of you, Danny."

"Are you going to work late tonight?"

"Uh, I'm not really sure. I hadn't planned on it. Why?"

"I was wondering if I could call you at home tonight from Jack's, maybe before dinner."

"Sure, that would be really nice. I'll talk to you then."

"Okay. Bye." Danny hung up with a smile. Step Two was to make sure that both Daniel and Sam did not work late tonight so they'd be at home for Step Three in the plan. He'd just made sure that Sam wouldn't work late. All he had to do now was make sure that Daniel did the same.

Their plan was working.

* * *

Daniel left the SGC with a smile. Danny had been pretty excited about spending the night at Jack's and helping with the preparations for the party in the morning. The boy had insisted that Daniel not work late, saying that it was a holiday tomorrow, so Daniel shouldn't work late tonight.

Daniel was surprised to see a live plant sitting on his doorstep when he got home. The plant was from a local florist and had a note with it.

_Daniel, I would like to talk with you about us. Could you meet me for dinner at Roberto's tonight at eight? I have a reservation in our names._

Sam 

Daniel stared at the note, his pulse quickening. Sam was asking him out to dinner to talk about them?

_'Calm down, Daniel. She probably just thinks that we need to get things worked out now that I've decided to stay on the team.'_ But she was asking him to dinner. Why not talk here or at her place? And why not just call him instead of asking him this way?

Daniel refused to hope that this was Sam's way of asking him out on a date. They'd already agreed that it would be best just to stay friends. Yes, Roberto's was a restaurant that could be called romantic, but business people also entertained clients there. It was one of the better restaurants in town.

Wondering how he should dress, Daniel went in the house, suddenly very nervous about what tonight would bring.

* * *

Sam had been home for only a couple of minutes when there was a knock on her door. She opened it to find a woman with a fresh flower arrangement on the other side.

"Samantha Carter?"

"Yes."

The woman handed her the flowers. "These are for you."

"They are? Who are they from?"

"I don't know, ma'am. There is a card with the flowers."

Thanking the women, Sam took the flowers into the kitchen, where she set them on the counter. She opened the card.

_Sam, I would like to talk with you about us. Could you meet me for dinner at Roberto's tonight at eight? I have a reservation in our names._

Daniel 

Sam blinked a couple of times. Daniel was asking her to dinner to talk about them? Oh, boy.

_'Get a grip, Sam. This is probably just to discuss how we're going to handle this thing between us, especially now that he's not leaving the team.' _

It was really sweet of him to invite her to dinner, though. And the flowers were beautiful. How she wished that he was actually asking her out on a date. But, of course, that wasn't going to happen. They'd already decided it would be a bad idea. This was probably just his way of telling her that he was okay with them just staying friends and that he valued her friendship.

What on Earth was she going to wear? It wasn't a date, so sexy was out, but she wanted to look good. Roberto's was a really nice restaurant, one of the best in town.

Sam glanced at her watch. It was almost six, so Danny should be calling soon.

A few minutes later, he did.

"Hey, Danny. So, are you and Colonel O'Neill having fun?"

"Uh huh. We're having Chinese for dinner. Jack said I could have as many egg rolls and fortune cookies as I wanted."

"Cool. I love egg rolls and fortune cookies."

"Me too."

Danny chatted about some of the things he and Jack had planned for tomorrow's party.

"Are you going to have dinner by yourself?" the boy asked after a few minutes.

"Uh, no, actually, I'm going to have dinner with . . . with a friend." Sam decided that she'd better not say who that friend was. She didn't want the boy asking any uncomfortable questions, especially while he was there at Jack's. "In fact, I need to go see about getting ready, so I'll have to say goodbye."

"Okay. Bye, Sam."

"Bye bye."

After taking a shower, then shaving her legs, Sam spent the next forty minutes trying to figure out what she was going to wear. Nothing in her closet really satisfied her, but there was no time to go buy something new, so she'd have to make do with what she had. Finally, she settled on the traditional little black dress. Perhaps it was a wee bit too short for the occasion, but at least it wasn't too clingy or low cut. No cleavage for this dinner, as much as she might have enjoyed seeing Daniel's eyes drift to her chest.

The memory of Daniel's mouth on her breast made her go hot. Okay, that is not the kind of thoughts she should be having right now.

Seeing how late it was, Sam got to work on her hair and makeup, trying to look nice but not too made up.

Before she knew it, it was time to leave. As she stepped into the restaurant a while later, she looked around. She had never been there before, but had always been curious about it. The atmosphere was very nice, the lights low, but not so low that you'd have difficulty reading the menu. Soft Italian music was playing in the background.

Sam stepped up to where a man stood with a reservation book.

"I have a reservation under the names Jackson and Carter."

The man looked at the book. "Yes, table for two. The other member of your party is already here."

Sam was led to a table tucked away in a corner. Upon seeing her, Daniel stood up. He was dressed in a dark gray suit with a pristine white shirt underneath, open at the collar. He looked fantastic.

"Wow, Sam. You look beautiful," he said, which made her blush.

"Thank you."

Once Sam was seated, the hostess gave them menus and asked if they'd like a drink. Daniel ordered some wine.

By silent agreement, they engaged only in small talk until after they'd placed their orders. Daniel was the first to broach the subject of why they were there.

"Um . . . I guess we should talk about why we're here," he said.

"I guess so. I have to say that you surprised me, though."

"I did? How?"

"Well, this." Sam waved her hand about. "This is really nice. We could have just talked at your place or mine. I think it's sweet that you invited me to a nice dinner instead. Oh, and the flowers were beautiful. Thank you."

Daniel frowned in bafflement. "Sam, what are you talking about? I didn't invite you out. I got an invitation from _you_. And I didn't send you any flowers."

Sam just stared at him. "You . . . you didn't?"

"No. Are you saying that you got an invitation that was addressed from me?"

"Yes. It said that you wanted to talk to me about us."

"Uhhh . . . did you happen to bring the note with you?"

"No, I didn't."

"Did it by chance say anything like, 'I would like to talk with you about us. Could you meet me for dinner at Roberto's tonight at eight? I have a reservation in our names.'?"

"That's exactly what it said."

"Sam, that's what the note I got said. My note came with a potted planet. Yours came with flowers?"

Sam nodded. "Daniel, what's going on here? Who did this?"

Daniel suddenly groaned, his head falling into his hands. "Oh, no."

"What? What is it?"

"I kind of talked with Danny about my feelings for you. The issue of whether or not it would be against the rules for us to date came up. Danny got it into his head to find out from Jack if it would be."

Sam's eyes widened. "He told the colonel about this?" Oh, this was not good.

"No, he didn't. I'd made him promise that he wouldn't say anything about it. But he did ask some questions that, if Jack thought about it long enough, might be enough for him to figure out what Danny was really asking."

Now, it was Sam's turn to lower her head into her hands. "Oh, no. Are you saying that the colonel did this?"

"It's the only explanation I have. And you have to admit that it's just the kind of sneaky thing he'd do."

"Oh, Daniel. What are we going to do now?"

"I don't know." Daniel's thoughts focused in one facet of this. "But I think we need to consider what this means."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sam, if Jack arranged all this, I don't think his intention was for us to discuss how we're _not_ going to do anything about these feelings we have for each other."

Sam realized he was right. "Are you saying that he's. . . ."

"Telling us in his own way that he's all right with us getting involved."

Sam realized that he was right. "Holy Hannah."

"Yep, I'd say that covers it."

They both fell silent. It was a full minute before Daniel spoke.

"Sam, we've talked about all the reasons why we shouldn't date, the problems it could cause at work, how, if things didn't work out between us, it could hurt our friendship. Maybe . . . maybe we should talk about the reasons why we _should_ try dating."

Sam thought about it. "I guess, as scientists, we should approach this from both sides."

Daniel nodded. He started playing with his napkin, not daring to meet her eyes. "I'd say that the biggest reason for me would be that I . . . that I really want to." When Sam didn't reply, he got up the courage to look at her. She was staring at her glass of water.

"That would be my biggest reason, too," she admitted.

"If we could make it work, I think that it could be something really good."

Sam met his gaze. "So do I."

Just then, the waiter came with the food. They ate in silence for a while.

"I guess we could go on a date, a _real_ date, and just see what happens," Sam reasoned.

"Yes. If we decide afterwards that it wouldn't be a good thing to continue, no harm done."

"Right. It'll be sort of an experiment."

"Exactly," Daniel agreed.

"No expectations or commitments, just a date."

"Right."

"Okay. Um . . . when?"

"Saturday night?" Daniel suggested. "I'm sure I could find someone to babysit Danny."

"All right. Saturday would be good."

Feeling both excited and nervous about the upcoming date, Daniel and Sam resumed eating. Once they were finished, the archeologist asked for the check. A short while later, a man clearly of Italian heritage came up to them.

"Hello, I am Roberto. Did you enjoy your dinner?"

"Yes, it was very good," Daniel replied. "Thank you."

"Good. I am pleased." The Italian smiled. "Your dinner tonight is on the house."

Daniel and Sam looked at him in surprise.

"Um . . . thank you," Daniel responded, "but I have to ask why."

The man's smile grew. "By now, you must know that your presence here was the result of a bit of trickery."

"You know?" Sam asked in surprise.

"Indeed I do. In fact, I must confess that I and members of my staff participated in it."

Daniel was surprised. "What? I don't understand. We thought that a friend of ours did this."

Now, the smile was an outright grin. "Ah, but you are wrong. It was, in fact, your son who dreamed this up, Signore."

"Danny?" Daniel and Sam exclaimed simultaneously.

"Si. He called and asked for help in arranging a romantic dinner for the two of you."

Stunned, Daniel didn't know what to say. Danny had done this? Holy cow!

"I must tell you that my staff and I greatly enjoyed our part in this. What a delightful child your son is. May I ask his age?"

"He's eight . . . apparently going on thirty."

Roberto chuckled. "This will surely be something for my memoirs."

"Was it you who ordered the things from the florist?" Sam asked.

"Yes. The woman who delivered your flowers was a member of my staff. She sat outside your house and waited for you to come home."

"How did you know where I live?"

"Uh, Danny got the address from me," Daniel replied. "He said that he wanted to send you a letter."

Roberto smiled again. "Such a clever child."

"Yeah, even more so than I thought," Daniel murmured. "I should pay you for the flowers and the plant at least."

The restauranteur waved his hand. "There is no need. We receive a discount from the florist, so it did not cost much. As I have said, we all found this most enjoyable. I have only one request from you."

"What's that?"

"That you bring young Danny here someday so that we may meet him."

"Uh, sure, I can do that."

"Wonderful. We will look forward to it." He smiled more softly. "And if you should choose to dine out together again, we would be most pleased if you would pick our restaurant."

Seeing the blush that colored the faces of both of them, he smiled and wished them a good evening.

Daniel and Sam sat unmoving at the table.

"I can't believe he did this," Daniel finally muttered.

"Neither can I." Sam laughed. "It's really pretty funny, actually."

Daniel smiled. "Yes, it is. Here's the two of us, talking about all the reasons why we shouldn't date, making each other miserable in the process, and an eight-year-old cuts through all the crap and makes us start looking at why we should take a chance and go for it." He thought about that. "Actually, it's making me feel kind of foolish."

"Me too."

As they walked out of the restaurant a few minutes later, Sam realized something. "Daniel, when we decided to go ahead and try this, we thought that the colonel knew about our feelings. But he doesn't."

"You're right, he probably doesn't." They'd been heading for the valet parking attendant, but Daniel decided that they needed to talk some more first. "Let's go for a walk."

The two friends headed across the parking lot, then down the sidewalk.

"Sam, what do you think Jack's reaction would be to us dating?"

"Oh, I really don't know, Daniel." Sam wondered if she dared mention that, at one time, she and the colonel had feelings for each other that were a lot more than friendship. As it turned out, there was no need to do so.

"I, uh . . . I know that you guys had feelings for each other at one time."

"You do? How did you know?"

"Little things I saw every now and then. I know that you were jealous when Jack kissed Laira. I saw the look on your face. And for a while after you went through the Zatarc tests, you were tense around each other. I asked Jack what happened, and he said it was nothing. He's usually a good liar, but not that time. I happened to mention it to Teal'c, and he said that it was a personal matter between you and Jack. By then, I was pretty sure about you guys, and what Teal'c said made me guess that what happened with the test had something to do with your feelings for each other."

Sam nodded. "We had no choice but to bring it out in the open and confront it. We never spoke about it again, but it's always been there in the background." Sam looked at him. "Ironically, it was this thing with you that really made me start to question my feelings for Jack. I finally realized that I'd been holding onto those feelings for all the wrong reasons."

"What do you mean?"

"How do I say this without making myself sound pathetic?" Sam murmured to herself.

Daniel gazed at her profile. "Sam, no matter what you say, I would never think that you're pathetic."

Sam gave him a smile. "I know you wouldn't." She was quiet a moment, thinking out her words as they kept walking. "Jack was kind of like a safety net for me. I've had my heart broken a lot of times when it came to men I cared about. I got to the point where I was afraid to feel that way about a man again in case I lost him, too, in one way or another. And that's where Jack came in. Even if I loved him, I couldn't have him."

"Because of regulations."

"Yeah. But if I had feelings for him, then I wouldn't get involved with someone else."

"And risk getting your heart broken again."

Sam nodded. "I used my feelings for Jack to protect myself from love."

"Did you . . . love him?" Daniel asked hesitantly, hoping the answer was no.

"At one time, I _thought_ I did. But, no, I don't think I ever did. I was definitely attracted to him, but I think that it was no more than an infatuation, one that would have faded a long time ago if I hadn't held onto it so tightly."

"And Jack? How do you think he still feels?"

"All I know is that he hasn't given any sign that he still feels that way about me in a very long time."

Daniel returned to his original question. "So, we're back to the question of how he'd feel about us dating."

"Yeah."

"If he was against it, that would cause a problem."

"Yes, it would."

"Soooo . . . do we tell him or. . . ?"

"We'd have to eventually, but I don't think we should yet. We should wait to see how things turn out. There may be no need to tell him."

Daniel nodded in agreement.

They stopped walking and faced each other. Sam stared at a spot below Daniel's chin.

"I have to admit that I'm kind of nervous about us doing this," she said.

"You're not the only one. It's pretty scary when you think about it. We've been just friends for so long."

"I know."

Daniel gazed at Sam. There in the moonlight, she looked more beautiful than ever. "Sam?"

She looked up at him. "Hmm?"

"I know this wasn't really a date, or at least we didn't _know_ that it was meant to be a date, but I . . ." Daniel took a deep breath, "I really want to kiss you right now."

Sam's pulse skyrocketed, her throat going dry. She gazed into Daniel's eyes, seeing the desire there. "I want that, too," she whispered.

Daniel took a slow step toward her. Tentatively, he rested his hands on her waist. The warm touch made Sam quiver. As he drew her against him, the quiver raced through her whole body, making her shiver. One of Daniel's hands rose, the back of his fingers brushing soft as a breath across her cheek. Sam's hands slid up his chest. She could feel his heart beating, hammering out a rapid cadence beneath his skin.

Daniel's hand went up into her hair. And then he lowered his head, and their lips met.

Their first kiss had been a surprise, an unplanned exploration. Their second had been a wild fusion of passion. This was neither of those. It began slowly, softly, both of them a little afraid and hesitant, not sure how far they should go. The emotions rising inside them made the decision for them.

Daniel wrapped his arm around Sam, his other hand tangling in her hair as he dove straight into her mouth. With a sigh, Sam opened herself and let him in.

Daniel kissed Sam with single-minded purpose, possessing her mouth like no lover ever had. He poured his heart into the kiss, his passion and his love, and Sam responded in kind. They clung to each other as the kiss went on and on, tongues tasting, seeking new places to discover in an ever deepening exploration.

The need for oxygen finally made them break apart, but only for quick gasps of air before coming together again. The heat of the kiss rose, growing more desperate. Though he didn't realize it, Daniel's hand had slid downward to cup Sam's buttocks. But Sam was aware, and the touch set her on fire. The arm she'd wrapped around Daniel's waist made its own journey south to rest its hand upon that part of Daniel's anatomy that she'd wanted to touch ever since she found him asleep wearing nothing but a towel.

Daniel groaned and crushed his body against hers, their lower halves nearly fused together. He pulled his lips from hers and began kissing her face, working his way to her exposed ear, his body burning with need for her.

Sam moaned as Daniel's tongue slid across the outer shell of her ear, then delved inside. She let out a whimper, clutching at him. There was nothing she wanted more than to make love with him right then and there.

That's when it suddenly hit her where they were. Daniel came to the same realization at almost the same instant. He lifted his head and stared at her, breathing heavily.

"God," he rasped.

"I think that was more than a kiss," Sam panted.

"Ya think?" Daniel responded in a good imitation of Jack.

The couple rested their foreheads together. Daniel finally realized where his hand was and moved it back up. Sam did the same. They stood still like that for a long time, slowly cooling down.

"I'm sorry," Daniel finally said. "I wasn't planning on that happening." He smiled. "I guess I really, _really_ wanted that kiss."

"I guess I really, really wanted it, too."

Daniel swallowed. "We should go back."

"Yes, we probably should."

They both experienced a feeling of emptiness after separating and wanted to return to each other's arms.

As they headed back toward the restaurant, Daniel reached down and took Sam's hand. Fingers entwined, they made the trip in silence. They each gave their claim tickets to the parking attendant. Sam's was the first of the two cars to arrive.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Daniel told her.

He watched her drive away, thinking about what was going to happen when they actually went on a real date – a date in which they would not be taking separate cars home.

Feeling a tingle run up and down his spine, Daniel got in his own car when it arrived and headed for home. 


	22. Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

When Daniel arrived at Jack's the next day, Danny looked at him with an expression that was an odd mixture of hesitancy and hopefulness. At the first opportunity, Daniel got the boy alone.

"Danny, as soon as we get home, you and I are going to have a talk about what you did."

The boy stared at the ground. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad, but we definitely need to discuss this."

"I'm sorry. I just wanted you and Sam to be together so you'd both be happy."

Daniel gazed down at him. How could anyone be mad over something like that? He brushed a hand through the boy's hair.

"I know. Like I said, we'll talk about it later."

To say that the party was interesting for Daniel and Sam would have been an understatement. Neither one of them could get those kisses out of their mind, nor the fact that they would be going on a real date tomorrow night. They kept catching each other's gaze, and when they were close to each other, they both ached to touch. More than once, Daniel found his eyes straying to Sam's lips. They tried their best to curb their feelings, but it was a struggle. Thankfully, there had been a huge turnout for the party, so, between the crowd, and the noise, and all the activity, they figured that nobody would notice.

They were wrong.

Standing on his deck, beer in hand, Jack stared at the two youngest members of his team. At the moment, they were both helping with some of the younger children, and they kept sharing these quick little glances. Stranger still, it seemed as if they were making an extra effort not to touch each other. If they had been two strangers he'd seen on the street, Jack would guess that they were new lovers who didn't want anyone to know.

That thought made Jack stiffen. No, it couldn't be that. Daniel and Sam? Sure, they were very close friends, but that was all. There had never been any indication of more.

That's when Jack suddenly remembered Danny's questions regarding the rules about relationship. Now that he was really thinking about it, Danny had specifically asked if there would be rules against two members of SG-1 having a relationship.

Jack's eyes returned to Daniel and Sam. Was there something going on between them, and Danny knew about it? Damn. If that was true, this could be a problem.

That last thought was not born from Jack's own feelings for Sam. Though the ghost of those feelings still existed, he had put thoughts of Sam like that out of his mind a very long time ago. You could yearn for someone you couldn't have for just so long before you finally reached the point where you had to give it up, to stop torturing yourself and move on. Jack had moved on. Even if he was to retire and could then date Sam, he doubted that he would. The desire really wasn't there anymore. Besides, if he was honest with himself, he'd admit that it could never have worked out between them. They were too different, not enough in common, virtually no shared interests. What the hell would they have talked about over dinner each night? Jack knew that there had been an alternate version of him who successfully lived a year of marriage with that alternate Sam, but that was them, two people who had different life experiences and different viewpoints. For one thing, that Sam had never been in the military.

The issue of incompatibility did not exist for Daniel and Sam, however, just the opposite, in fact. No, they did not share all the same interests, but in regards to their personalities, they were very compatible.

Jack had a sudden thought. If Daniel hadn't been married when he and Sam met, what would have happened? Jack never forgot seeing the two of them bond intellectually right there in the map room on Abydos. He and Kawalsky had been left in the dust. If Daniel hadn't been married, would that bonding have gone a whole lot farther than friendship? Had it gone farther than that now?

Jack's thoughts were drawn away from Daniel and Sam by Danny, who ran up to him.

"Uncle Jack, can we play with the water guns?" the boy asked.

"I'm afraid that wouldn't be a good idea, Danny. A lot of people might accidentally get wet, not to mention the food. So, are you having fun with the other kids?"

"Yeah, although I wish that Kayla and Tessa were here."

Hammond's granddaughters were celebrating Independence Day out of town with their parents, so they couldn't be at this party. But there were a lot of other children, some around Danny's age, so he'd found plenty of playmates.

It had been necessary to tell Danny that a lot of the people who would be at the party didn't know anything about the Stargate or that he was a clone, so he'd have to keep those things a secret. It appeared that, so far, there hadn't been any problems. Watching Danny play with the other children had been enjoyable, but it couldn't help but make Jack wonder if Daniel ever played like that after the death of his parents.

That thought made Jack recall the last Fourth of July party. For him, Sam and Teal'c, it had not been a happy day. None of them had felt like celebrating anything. But this year was different. Not only were they celebrating the independence of the United States, they were also celebrating the return of Daniel into their lives. In four days, there would be another celebration, one especially for the friend who had returned to them.

Danny ran off to continue playing with the other kids. A few minutes later, General Hammond joined Jack.

"The party has turned out well," the general observed.

"Yes, it has, a good turnout. My lawn may never recover."

"I understand you had a little helper for the preparations."

"I sure did. Danny was a big help, eager to give me a hand however he could. He's just like Daniel in that way. Daniel may not be good at always doing what I tell him to, but if someone needs help, he's right there, doing all he can." Jack's eyes searched for Daniel and found him in a conversation with Janet. "I can't tell you how glad I am that he's staying on the team."

"We're all glad of that, Jack, just as we're all glad that he's with us on this Independence Day." Hammond turned fully to the colonel. "I understand that you're going to have a little birthday party for Daniel."

"Yes, sir. Last July 8th was a really bad day for us, so we want to make this one extra special. I've already begun making arrangements. In fact, I was intending to talk to you about this."

"Oh?"

Jack smiled. "Yes. You see, I have a plan."

* * *

Daniel made his way through the crowd to where Cassie was talking with a young airman, who appeared to be quite taken with the teenager.

"Excuse me," the archeologist said. "Cassie, could I speak with you for a moment?"

"Sure, Daniel. I'll talk to you later, Duane."

They walked into the front yard, which was empty of people at the moment.

"I was wondering if you'd be free to watch Danny tomorrow night," Daniel said.

"Um, sure. I don't have any plans. So, where are you going?" Cassie grinned. "Got a hot date?" The teenager had asked the question jokingly, so she was stunned by the look on Daniel's face in reaction to it. The girl's mouth dropped open. "You've got a date?"

"Jeez, Cass. Why don't you yell that out a little louder? I don't think all the neighbors heard."

Cassie bit her lower lip. "Sorry. It's just that I didn't know you dated. Mom never knew about any girlfriends. She thought that you hadn't seen anyone since your wife died."

"Well, she's right. I haven't."

So, this was the first woman Daniel had dated in all these years? Now, Cassie was dying of curiosity. "So, who are you going out with?"

"None of your business."

The teen pouted. "Oh, come on, Daniel. You can't drop the bombshell that you've got a date, then not even tell me her name."

Daniel smiled sweetly. "Yes, I can."

Cassie punched his arm. "You're no fair."

"I'll tell you what. If things work out with this woman, then I'll tell you who she is. In fact, I'll even introduce you. How's that?"

Cassie was still pouting. "Well . . . okay, if you promise."

"I promise. But, like I said, only if it works out and we keep dating."

"So, this is your first date?"

"Yes. And that's the last question I'm going to answer about this."

The teen sighed dramatically. "Oh, all right. So, when do you need me?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't made the dinner reservations yet. I'll call you once I know."

"Okay." Cassie smiled. "This is great, Daniel. I'm glad that you might have found somebody."

The archeologist thought of something. "You're sworn to secrecy on this, Cassie. You can't tell anyone. If Jack found out, he wouldn't leave me alone."

"Darn. I was looking forward to seeing the look on Mom's face when I told her."

"Sorry. I don't want you to tell her either. She'd pester me incessantly, too."

"Can I be the first to tell her after you've told me who it is?"

Daniel thought about that. If he and Sam did enter into a relationship, there was a good chance that Janet would be one of the first to find out, especially since she and Sam were close friends. Frankly, Daniel was surprised that Sam hadn't spoken to the doctor about her feelings for him.

"We'll see. It depends on how things work out."

It was late in the afternoon before the party finally ended. Jack's teammates, Janet, Cassie and a few others stayed to help him with the clean-up. Jack noticed that things seemed to be back to normal with Daniel and Sam, which made him begin to wonder if he'd been imagining what he'd seen earlier – that is until the moment they accidentally bumped into each other. Sam lost her balance and would have fallen if Daniel hadn't grabbed her. For the instant that he held her, their bodies close but not quite touching, a look passed between them that Jack could not mistake. He knew what desire looked like.

The two scientists quickly drew apart and went about their business, but those couple of seconds were enough to confirm Jack's suspicions. So, what was he going to do about it? Confront them? The truth was that he really didn't know if they'd done anything, or, if they had, how far it had gone.

Jack's gaze went to Danny, who was helping Cassie pick up the litter scattered around the yard. There was one person who might know. Perhaps he needed to have a little talk with Daniel's young clone.

After the clean-up was finished and the others had gone home, SG-1 and Danny sat around the living room.

"So, did you have fun, Danny?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. Some of the kids were really nice. Tommy Hardwick invited me to sleep over his house."

"Really? That's cool."

Daniel smiled. "Yes, it is. Did he say when you could do this?"

"No, he said he had to ask his mom and dad first."

"Well, I'll have to talk to Captain Hardwick at work and see what he says."

"Speaking of sleeping over, I was wondering if you'd like to do that here again tonight, Danny," Jack said, figuring it would be the perfect opportunity to "grill" the kid over Daniel and Sam's relationship.

Danny smiled brightly. "Sure!"

"Are you sure you don't need to get other things done, Jack?" Daniel asked.

"I've got some running around to do tomorrow, but I can do that afterwards. I'll drop him off tomorrow morning around ten."

"Okay. That'll be fine."

"Thanks for hosting the party, sir." Sam said. "It really was a great party."

"Yes, it was. Which reminds me." Jack turned back to Daniel. "Though I was really looking forward to the singing waiters, I'm going to forgo it. I've made reservations at O'Malley's for their side room so that we can have some privacy."

The news brought another smile to Daniel's face. "We're not banned from there anymore?"

"Nope, the ban has been lifted. I pretty much swore on my life to the owner that we'd never again cause any trouble. I probably could have gotten it lifted sooner, but I never bothered trying until now."

Danny knew what a ban was and asked why they'd been banned from the restaurant.

"A few years ago, there was some trouble at O'Malley's that we were a part of, a big fight," Daniel replied. "The owner banned us from ever going there again."

"But, now, there's no more ban, so we can have some of their big, juicy steaks," Jack said with a grin.

"Sounds great, sir," Sam remarked.

A while later, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c left. Jack waited until after dinner before hitting Danny with his questions.

He patted his hand on the couch cushion. "Come sit down. I've got a question for you."

The boy took a seat.

"A while ago, you asked me some questions about the rules on romantic relationships between people at the SGC. You remember that?"

Danny started looking a little nervous. "Uh huh."

"When I asked you why you were asking those questions, you said you couldn't tell me because it was a secret. Is it still a secret?"

Danny nodded.

"Okay, what if I guess the secret? Would you be able to tell me about it if I guess right?"

Danny frowned, clearly thinking very hard about that. "I guess if you figured it out already, then it would be okay since it wouldn't be a secret to you anymore."

Jack nodded once. "Good. Okay, I'm guessing that it has something to do with Daniel and Sam." He watched the boy's eyes immediately drop to the front of his shirt as he began playing with a button. The reaction told Jack that he'd scored a hit. "I'm also guessing that they're more than friends now, that maybe their dating. So, am I right?"

Danny didn't respond for a while, then shook his head.

"I'm not right? Am I partly right?"

"I can't tell you. That would be cheating."

Okay, so Jack's guess would have to be exactly right. He could tell from the boy's reaction that this definitely had to do with Daniel and Sam. So, what if they weren't dating yet? Maybe this thing between them hadn't been resolved yet.

"All right, here's another guess. Daniel and Sam both like each other in a romantic way, but they're not dating yet. Is that right?"

There was a long silence, then Jack got what he'd been looking for, a nod of the head. He smiled. "So, now that I've guessed right, can you tell me about it?"

Danny thought about that long and hard. Since Jack had guessed the secret, it should be okay to tell him everything.

"Daniel is in love with Sam, and Sam has romantic feelings for him, too," he blurted out. "Daniel is really sad because he wants to be together with Sam, but he says they can't be because they're on the same team, even though it's not against the rules. But even when Daniel decided not to be on the team anymore, he still said that he and Sam were going to just stay friends because it would be better. But I don't understand why it's better if it makes them both unhappy."

Jack had a good idea what was going on. Because of the problems that being in a romantic relationship and on the same team could cause, Daniel and Sam were denying themselves what they wanted. They probably believed that, even if they weren't on the same team, it would be wisest not to mess with a good thing, namely, their friendship. But Jack knew that, if these feelings for each other were really strong, they were just going to keep making each other miserable by not doing anything about them. With Jack and Sam, their careers, the regulations and the importance of their job weighed heavily on the side of not doing anything about their feelings. Such was not the case with Daniel and Sam.

"I wanted them to be together, but I didn't know how to make it happen," Danny continued. "I thought that maybe if they went on a romantic dinner, they'd get together."

A grin began to form on Jack's face. Danny was starting to sound like a little matchmaker.

"I didn't know how to get them to go on a romantic dinner, so I called Roberto's restaurant and asked them."

Jack's eyebrows went up. "You called a restaurant and asked them how to make Daniel and Sam go on a romantic dinner?"

"Uh huh."

"What did they say?"

"They said that it would have to be a surprise dinner and that they'd help me. We made all these plans to trick Daniel and Sam into going out to dinner. Roberto sent flowers to Sam with a note that was supposed to be from Daniel, telling her to meet him at the restaurant, and a plant was sent to Daniel with the same note, but his was supposed to be from Sam. I asked if I could stay with you Thursday night so that they could go out to dinner. I called Sam to make sure she wasn't going to work late, and I told Daniel not to work late so that they'd both go home and get the flowers and the plant. And I got Sam's address from Daniel so that the restaurant would know where she lives, but I told Daniel that I wanted it so that I could mail Sam a letter."

Jack couldn't hold it in any longer. He started laughing so hard that he nearly fell off the couch. The thought of an eight-year-old planning out this elaborate matchmaking scheme with the owner of a fancy Italian restaurant was just too funny for words. Oh, man. Daniel and Sam probably never knew what hit them.

Jack finally got control of himself, wiping the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes. Danny was staring at him quizzically.

"Sorry, I just think that's very funny. So, Daniel and Sam went out on this dinner you tricked them on?"

"Uh huh. Daniel knows that I was the one that tricked them. He said that he wasn't mad but that we needed to talk about it."

"So, you don't know how things turned out?"

The boy shook his head.

Jack thought about the whole thing. When he first got the suspicion that something was going on between Daniel and Sam, he'd thought that it would be a big problem, but would it be? If they couldn't set aside their relationship while on missions, then, yes, it would probably cause a problem, but if they could remain professional while on duty, there shouldn't be an issue.

But there was more to consider here than the issue with work. Both Daniel and Sam had suffered a lot of losses in their lives, and they deserved to be happy, to have somebody to love and to love them in return. Could they be happy with each other? Based on what Jack knew about their friendship, he guessed that they could be happy in a romantic relationship.

Of course, now, he was dying to know how the dinner went and if it had succeeded in doing what Danny hoped it would. Judging by what he'd seen during the party, _something_ definitely happened.

"Okay, Danny, this is what I want you to do. When you find out from Daniel how the dinner went, you need to tell me."

Danny frowned. "I don't know if I should do that. Wouldn't that be kind of like tattling?"

"Nah. I already know the secret, so you'd just be keeping me informed, letting me know if we need to try something else to get them together."

Danny's eyes brightened. "You mean you'll help me get them together if this didn't work?"

Jack gave him a smile. "Sure, why not? It could be fun."

"Cool!"

Jack stuck out his hand. "So, partners?"

Danny shook his hand, grinning. "Partners!"

* * *

Sam called Daniel shortly after she got home.

"I didn't get the opportunity to ask you about Cassie at the party." she said. "Did you talk to her about babysitting Danny?"

"Yes. She said she could. You should have seen her reaction when she found out I was going on a date. Of course, she wanted to know who I was going out with."

"But you didn't tell her, right?"

"No, we agreed that we'd keep this a secret for now," Daniel responded.

"Right. Sooo . . . we're all set then."

"Yeah. Do you want to go to Roberto's again?"

"Um, maybe not on this date," Sam replied. "It might be a little. . . ."

"Awkward?"

"Yeah."

"I agree. Having at least half the staff aware that an eight-year-old fixed us up would be rather embarrassing."

Sam chuckled. "But we will need to go back there sometime. It really was nice of them to take the time to help Danny."

"Plus, the money they spent on the whole thing."

"I doubt that many restaurants would do something like that."

"Frankly, I'm surprised that _they_ did it."

Sam grinned. "Well, you know what they say about the Italians and their views on love."

A rather heavy silence fell between them at the utterance of that last word.

"Uh . . . I'll, um, pick you up at seven, okay?" Daniel said.

"That'll be good. How should I dress?"

Daniel took a moment to answer. "It'll be a nice restaurant."

"All right. I guess I'll see you then."

Sam hung up the phone. She sat staring at it. Oh, boy. Tomorrow, she and Daniel would be going on a date, an actual, honest-to-goodness date. Part of her was incredibly excited. The other part was scared out of its mind. What if it wasn't good? What if they couldn't figure out what to say to each other and just sat there? They'd never had trouble finding things to talk about before, but they'd also never been on a date with each other before.

Sam wanted it to be a good date. She wanted a relationship with Daniel to work out. She wanted to spend her life with him, her, Daniel and Danny together as a family. And, maybe someday, they would add more members to that family.

_'Whoa, there. Aren't I putting the cart before the horse? We haven't even had our first date yet, and I'm thinking about having children with him.' _

Getting up to fix her dinner, Sam let her thoughts wander to a life spent with Daniel and how very happy they could be.

* * *

After Jack dropped Danny off the next morning, Daniel decided that it was time to have his talk with the boy. Danny was clearly nervous when the archeologist sat him down.

"You know what I want to talk to you about, don't you?" Daniel asked.

Danny was staring at his lap. "Because of the dinner at Roberto's."

"That's right. That was quite a plan that you and Roberto came up with. Sam and I didn't suspect a thing."

"Roberto said that we had to be careful so you wouldn't get suspicious." Danny looked up at Daniel. "You're not mad about what we did?"

"No, I'm not mad. Neither is Sam. We both know that you did it because you wanted us to be happy. But that doesn't mean that it's always okay to trick people like that. Tricking people can lead to problems and hurt feelings. It didn't this time, but if you did something else in the future, it could. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Danny's gaze had returned to his lap. "Yeah. I promise I won't trick you or Sam again."

Daniel gave him a hug. "Okay, now I have some good news for you."

"What?"

"Well, during that dinner, Sam and I did some talking, and we decided to go on a real date."

A smile beamed across Danny's face. "You did? So, you're going to be together now?"

"We don't know that yet, Danny. This is just the first step. We'll see how things go and take it from there. Our date is tonight, so Cassie's coming over to watch you. Now, she doesn't know that I'm going on a date with Sam, so you can't tell her."

"Okay, I won't," Danny agreed happily. He was so pleased that Daniel and Sam were going on a date and might get together. He'd have tell Uncle Jack as soon as possible. 


	23. Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Sam entered her house, heading to her bedroom. She removed from the shopping bag her new purchases. She stared at the first dress critically. Had she gone too far? This was, after all, their first date. She also knew that, as much as a big part of her might want otherwise, they would be parting company after the date was over. Given those two facts, some might say that her choice in dresses was a bit too . . . provocative.

Oh, what the hell. This was her first date with Daniel, the man she was in love with, and the feminine side of her was dying to see the look on his face when he saw her in this dress. Besides, the other dress she got, the one for the second date, was even sexier. And if there was no second date? Sam didn't want to contemplate that possibility.

When the time came for Sam to get ready, she took extra special care with her appearance. She never wore much makeup normally, but she wanted to look her best tonight.

Before Sam knew it, Daniel was there. Nervously, she smoothed her dress and opened the door. Daniel's eyes widened upon seeing her, his gaze running over her body. The brilliant blue eyes darkened perceptibly, which brought a rush of heat to Sam's cheeks.

'Wow,' was the thought that hit Daniel's mind as he got his first look at Sam. She was dressed in a snug dark blue dress made of a satiny material that shimmered in the light. Before he could stop himself, his eyes had traveled up and down her entire body, taking in the view. As he did, he felt the heat of desire begin to burn low in his belly. Oh, crap. This date was really going to test his self-control.

Swallowing, Daniel huskily said, "Sam, you look . . . you look incredible."

Sam smiled. "Thank you. You look great, too." And he did. He was wearing an expensive blue-gray suit that made his eyes look even bluer in contrast. The tie was a few shades darker. Like last time, his shirt was white.

Daniel pulled his hand out from behind his back and revealed not the traditional bouquet of roses, but, instead, a floral arrangement made of roses, carnations and other flowers and greenery. She had liked the arrangement that she got before, the one she had thought came from Daniel, but this one was simply gorgeous.

"This one really is from me," he said, smiling.

Sam took the arrangement. "Daniel, it's beautiful. Thank you. Let me put it on the table."

The archeologist followed her in, his eyes glued to her form as she went into the dining room. The part of him that was very decidedly male wanted to forget about dinner, take Sam into the bedroom and make love to her. But that would sort of defeat the purpose of this date.

Daniel would probably have thought it funny if he'd known that Sam's thoughts were along the same line. She put the flowers on the table, gathered her self-control and turned back around.

"Shall we go?"

Daniel's reply was a nod. He helped her put on the matching bolero jacket, and they left the house. Daniel opened the car door for Sam and kept his eyes off her legs as she got in, which wasn't easy.

They went to a French restaurant that was reported to have very good – and very expensive – food.

Sam smiled. "First Italian, now French. What's next? Greek?"

Daniel smiled as well. "Well, I had nothing to do with the first one, but, sure, we can stick to the international theme, if you like."

They were seated in a booth, and Daniel and Sam both ordered an aperitif.

The major looked around. "This is nice."

"Yes, it is. I hope the food lives up to its reputation."

They fell silent, looking about the restaurant, their drinks arriving a short while later. They got down to the business of deciding what to order.

"Um . . . the menu's in French," Sam said.

"Yeah. They probably have ones in English. Do you want me to ask?"

"Could you tell me what this one says?"

"Sure, no problem."

Daniel translated each of the menu items, reading the description for the ones that interested Sam. They both made their choices on what to order.

"This proves that having a linguist can be very handy even outside of work," Sam remarked, smiling.

When the waiter arrived, he noticed that the menus Daniel and Sam had were in French. He asked if they had requested them and were told that they hadn't.

"I am terribly sorry, Monsieur, Madame," he apologized. "We have both English and French menus, which are kept separate. The one who seated you must have taken the wrong ones."

"It's all right," Daniel responded. "I translated them."

The man smiled. "Ah. You speak French?"

"Oui."

Smiling, the waiter switched to that language. Following suit, Daniel ordered for both himself and Sam as the astrophysicist looked on, thinking that hearing Daniel speak French, the language of love, was incredibly sexy.

After the waiter had left, silence fell between them, neither of them knowing what to say. Sam picked up the wine list and began going through it, feeling uncomfortable. A soft sound from Daniel a moment later made her look at him.

"This is stupid," he said, shaking his head. "We've known each other for almost six and a half years. During those years, the two of us have eaten together how many times?"

"Dozens," Sam replied.

"And we've never had a problem finding something to talk about. So, why are we now? Because this isn't just a dinner between friends? We're still the same people. We're still friends."

Sam relaxed, smiling. "You're right. We're being silly. Just because this is a date shouldn't make a difference."

With the ice broken, Daniel and Sam began to really talk. In fact, they got so deep in conversation that the arrival of the food was almost incidental. They kept talking as they ate.

During the years that they had known each other, there were always subjects that, even as close friends, they did not talk about, things viewed as too personal. As the evening progressed, they found themselves opening up to each other in ways they never had before, learning things they'd never known.

Not surprisingly, the conversation got on the subject of first kisses. Sam thought that Daniel's story of the little girl who gave him his first kiss at the tender age of six was adorable.

"So, what about you?" the archeologist asked. "When was your first kiss?"

"Oh, I was quite a bit older than you. I was fifteen." Sam grinned. "Bobby Heater. He was the most popular boy in school, and I was a science geek. Apparently, his buddies made a bet with him that he wouldn't be able to get anywhere with me. Despite the fact that he'd teased me more than once, I'm afraid I had a bit of a crush on him. So, when he offered to walk me home from school one day, I jumped at the chance. His father was stationed at the same military base as Dad, so we both lived in the base housing. Well, dummy me, when we got to my house, I let Bobby come in. He immediately started making moves on me. The kiss was fine and really quite enjoyable, but he went too far when he began groping me. I started pushing him away, and it probably would have ended there, but, as luck would have it, Dad walked in the door."

"Uh oh."

"Oh, yeah. He sees this boy pawing his daughter, apparently against her will, and went ballistic. Bobby was really lucky he made it out of the house alive. I had to beg Dad not to go to Bobby's father about it, insisting that Bobby wouldn't have hurt me. Of course, I got the lecture about not letting boys into the house when I'm alone."

"It's a shame that your first kiss was under those conditions," Daniel said.

"Oh, don't be. Bobby was a jerk, and that incident completely killed my crush on him, so I was way better off. What's even better, though, is that he never dared tease me again. In fact, he avoided me like the plague, probably afraid that, if he even looked at me, my 'psycho' father would slice him up with a combat knife."

Daniel let out a laugh. "What about the bet?"

"I have it on good authority that he never collected, that he actually lied to his friends and told them that he didn't get anywhere with me. I guess he was more worried about my father doing something to him if he . . . besmirched my name than he was about losing a few bucks and being teased by his friends."

They finished their meal and walked out into the cool night air.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" Daniel asked, not wanting the evening to end.

"Sure, that would be great."

They headed off down the sidewalk.

"So, we've heard the stories of our first kisses," Sam said after a moment. "What about our first loves?"

"Well, that all depends on if you count crushes."

"Only if the crush actually resulted in a relationship, however brief it was."

"Okay. Though I did have a crush or two growing up, I didn't have a girlfriend until my junior year in college."

"Why so long?"

"Several things. Starting college at sixteen meant that virtually every other student during my freshman year was older than me. And I was really too focused on my studies to bother with girls anyway. By the time I hit eighteen, I was a bit more sure of myself about a lot of things. And there was this girl, Rebecca. She was a freshman, shy, sweet, very intelligent. She was majoring in geology, which I was intending to get a bachelor's in. We became friends and, in time, a lot more."

"Was she your first?" Sam asked gently.

Daniel smiled softly. "Yeah. It wasn't planned. We'd been friends for a while, exchanged a couple of kisses, but nothing intense. Then, one night, it just happened. It was her first time, too. We dated into the summer. But then her family moved out of state, and Rebecca decided to transfer to a university near their new home. Her mom's health was poor, so she wanted to be nearby. We wrote letters to each other, but Rebecca eventually got involved with someone else. We stayed in contact as friends, an occasional letter, Christmas and birthday cards. The last letter I got from her was shortly before I got my first doctorate. Her mom had passed away, and she was considering leaving school. I tried to encourage her to stick with it, telling her that her mom wouldn't have wanted her to quit, but I never heard back from her. I don't know what became of her."

Sam slipped her hand into his. "I'm sorry."

Daniel shrugged. "I never regretted what we shared, even though we didn't stay together." He looked at Sam. "What about you?"

"Well, like you, I had a few crushes, including the one I already told you about, but my first boyfriend was Brian Richardson. He loved science as much as I did, and we dated throughout our senior year in high school. We parted ways when he went on to college and I went to the Air Force Academy." Sam looked at Daniel. "I know that you're too much of a gentleman to ask, so I'll tell you that, yes, he was my first. We actually waited quite a while before consummating our relationship. You know, thinking about it, Brian was an awful lot like you."

"How so?"

"He was very kind and compassionate, brilliant, but you'd never know it by the way he talked about himself. No ego to speak of. He and I shared the same passion for our fields of interest that you and I do."

That's when a sudden realization hit Sam square between the eyes. Brian was not the only man Sam had been romantically interested in whose personality bore a striking resemblance to Daniel's. Narim, Martouf and Orlin all had that quality of gentleness and compassion. And they were all extremely intelligent, yet didn't flaunt it.

Was it possible that, subconsciously, Sam had been drawn to all three of those men because they reflected portions of Daniel's personality? Could some part of her deep inside have been trying to tell her all these years that he was the one she wanted, the one with whom she belonged? Or was it simply that men like that were Sam's "type," the kind of guy to whom she was most attracted? But then, how could she explain Jonas Hanson and Jack, who were definitely not that type?

"Sam? Are you all right?" Daniel asked.

"What?" Sam realized that she'd stopped walking. "Oh. Um, yes. Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something."

"What?"

Should she tell him? Maybe not yet. If this relationship grew into something permanent, then she would.

"I'll tell you another time," she said.

Daniel gave her a gentle smile. "Okay."

They walked in silence for a while, their hands still joined.

"Thank you," Daniel abruptly said. "This has been . . . really nice."

"Yes, it has." They'd done nothing more than go to dinner and then for a walk, yet Sam couldn't remember another date that she'd enjoyed more. It was that connection they had, the bond that allowed them to feel so at ease with each other, able to talk about private things without feeling any discomfort. They had really shared things with each other tonight, and that simple fact had made it the perfect date, a date she didn't want to end.

They'd reached the end of the block. The couple could hear music on the still night air, coming from a night club directly across the street. On impulse, Sam turned to Daniel, smiling.

"Dance with me," she said.

"Right here?"

"Sure, why not?"

Daniel grinned. "Okay."

Daniel took Sam into his arms, and they began swaying to the beat, dancing right there on the sidewalk of a Colorado Springs street with the moon and stars shining down on them. Soon, they forgot all about where they were, simply enjoying being in each other's arms. Daniel held Sam close, his arms around her waist, hers about his neck. Their foreheads touching, they closed their eyes, both of them feeling happy and content.

Daniel had never believed in fate, but if it wasn't fate or some higher power that stepped in at that moment, then they were experiencing an amazing coincidence, for, at that moment, a new song began inside the night club, one that seemed to have been written just for them.

Are those your eyes?  
Is that your smile?  
I've been looking at you forever  
But I never saw you before  
Are these your hands holding mine?  
Now I wonder how I could have been so blind

For the first time, I am looking in your eyes  
For the first time, I'm seeing who you are  
I can't believe how much I see  
When you're looking back at me  
Now I understand what love is . . . love is  
For the first time

Can this be real?  
Can this be true?  
Am I the person I was this morning?  
And are you the same you?  
It's all so strange, how can it be?  
All along, this love was right in front of me

And for the first time, I am looking in your eyes  
For the first time I';m seeing who you are  
I can't believe how much I see  
When you're looking back at me  
Now I understand what love is . . . love is  
For the first time

Such a long time ago  
I had given up on finding this emotion . . . ever again.  
But you're here with me now  
Yes, I've found you somehow  
And I've never been so sure

And for the first time, I am looking in your eyes  
For the first time I'm seeing who you are  
Can't believe how much I see  
When you are looking back at me  
Now I understand what love is . . . love is  
For the first time

Daniel lifted his head and met Sam's eyes, seeing that she recognized the parallel between the song and their relationship. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, but was it too soon? Was Sam ready for that declaration? This date was supposed to be a 'trial', a test to see if they should pursue a relationship. But Daniel already knew in his heart that they didn't really need any trials or tests. He had feared that a relationship between them might end like the one with Sarah did, but he should have known all along that wouldn't happen. Though he had cared a great deal for Sarah, she had not been the greatest passion in his life at the time. As ashamed as he was to admit it, even to himself, their relationship had always taken second place to his research, his work. And that's why it fell apart. But with Sam, it was different. He would give up his work for her in a heartbeat. Nothing in the universe was more important to him than her and Danny. Sam was . . . his soul mate. But did she feel the same?

"Sam," he whispered as they kept dancing, another song having begun. "I want to go out with you again."

Sam smiled. "I want that, too."

Their movements slowed, then stopped as their gaze remained locked upon each other. Listening to the desire in his heart, Daniel closed the distance between their lips in a slow, gentle kiss.

Neither of them knew how much time had passed when the sound of laughter ended the kiss and drew their attention to the club. A man and woman had just exited and were walking toward them.

Deciding that it was time to head back, Daniel and Sam began retracing their steps, an arm around each other. It was getting late and, as much as they hated the thought of ending the evening, Daniel needed to get home.

"I'd love to go out with you again tomorrow," he said, "but I think asking Cassie to babysit two nights in a row might be pushing it."

"Yes, you're probably right. Monday wouldn't work either, and your birthday's on Tuesday."

"Then escrow closes on the house Wednesday. After that, I'll be up to my eyeballs in packing and moving."

"We'll help you with that as much as we can, Daniel. I guess this means that we'll just have to play it by ear, see when we'll get another chance to go out."

"Yeah."

All too soon, they were at Daniel's car. The drive to Sam's was done in silence. Daniel pulled up in front.

"I had a really good time, Daniel," Sam said.

"Me too." The archeologist smiled. "I guess our test went really well."

Sam gazed at him. "Yes, it did." She paused. "Do you want to come inside for a while?"

Daniel caressed her cheek. "Sam," he murmured. "I think that you and I both know what would happen if I did."

"Yes," Sam whispered a little breathlessly. Yes, she did know. If Daniel set foot inside her house tonight, they would be making love before fifteen minutes had passed. She wanted that badly, ached for it, but it couldn't happen, not tonight.

"I'll see you at work on Monday, okay?" Daniel said, wishing that he didn't have to go home, that he could spend the night making love with Sam. Perhaps it was best that he couldn't. He was used to moving a lot slower with the women he dated, well, except for Sha're, that is, whom he didn't even have a chance to date before they were married.

Daniel had a feeling, though, that there would be no moving slowly with Sam. They'd already come close to making love. How many more dates could they go on before they could no longer deny themselves what they really wanted? And was there really any reason to delay? They'd already been friends for nearly six and a half years. They weren't strangers just getting to know each other.

Unaware of Daniel's thoughts, Sam nodded. "Okay. Good night, Daniel."

Sam made a move to open the door. But a sudden need took hold of her. She took Daniel's face in her hands and kissed him, hard. Before he could respond, she broke away.

"Good night," she said again, more softly, then got out. Daniel watched her go up the walkway and ascend the stairs. She paused before going in the house, turning back to wave at him. Then she slipped inside.

When Daniel got home, it wasn't hard for Cassie to tell that his date went really well. Smirking, she reached up and wiped a little smudge of lipstick from the corner of Daniel's mouth, which made him blush all the way to his collar.

"So, are you going to tell me her name now?" she asked, grinning.

"No."

"Oh, come on, Daniel. Please? I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight if you don't."

"Sorry. You're just going to have to wait."

"Damn. You're as stubborn as Danny is."

Daniel gazed at her narrowly. "Cassie, did you try to get Danny to tell you who I'm dating?"

Cassie's expression turned evasive. "Well . . . I may have asked him about it."

"Uh huh. And he refused to tell you, didn't he."

Cassie frowned. "Even when I tried to bribe him with chocolate." She gasped, clamping her hand over her mouth at the slip of the tongue. "Oops."

"Cassandra Fraiser, you should be ashamed of yourself," Daniel scolded.

"Okay, so I let my curiosity get the better of me." The teen's expression changed, softened. "I just wanted to know who, after all these years, has captured your interest like that, Daniel. I know how much you loved your wife."

"Yes, I did love her, and, for a long time, I believed that she would be the last woman I felt that way about. But I'm happy to say that I was wrong."

Cassie's eyes widened when she realized what Daniel had just revealed. "Oh my God. You love her, don't you, this woman you went out with tonight."

Daniel cursed silently, not having intended to let that out. So, what could he do? Deny it? What would be the point?

"Yes, I do, Cass, very much."

Instead of the reaction Daniel had been expecting, Cassie came forward and gave him a hug. Surprised, he hugged her back.

"I'm so happy for you, Daniel," she said, smiling. She drew back. "Okay, I can wait to find out who she is," she wagged her finger at him, "but not for long, mind you."

Daniel laughed softly. "Okay. I promise that you'll be among the first to know."

After Cassie had left, Daniel checked on Danny. The boy was sleeping in the bed, which meant that Daniel would be spending another night on the couch. He'd really be glad when they were in their new house, where they'd each have their own bedroom.

Pressing a kiss to Danny's brow, Daniel quietly left the room.

* * *

It came as no surprise to Daniel that the first thing Danny asked the next morning was if the date went well.

The archeologist smiled at him. "Yes, it did, Danny. We had a wonderful time."

Danny smiled happily. "Are you going to go on another one?"

"That's the plan."

"Does this mean that you and Sam are going to get together?"

"Well, I can't say for sure, but . . ." Daniel's smile widened, "yes, I think that we are."

"Yay!" Danny shouted, jumping up and down. Daniel laughed at the sight, wondering how many eight-year-olds got that excited about such things.

"Can I tell everybody now?" Danny asked excitedly.

The thought of Danny running all over the SGC, telling everyone he saw that Daniel and Sam were dating, horrified the archeologist.

"Uh, no. That wouldn't be a good idea," he replied. "In fact, when it comes to Jack, Teal'c and General Hammond, Sam and I really need to be the ones to tell them. There are things we need to discuss about it."

Danny was disappointed that he wasn't going to get to spread the news. "What things?"

"Um, well, though it may not be against the rules for us to date, we need to find out if General Hammond and Jack will think it's okay for us to stay on the same team now that we are dating."

Danny frowned. "You mean they might not like it?"

"I don't know. That's one of the things we'll need to discuss with them."

"But Uncle Jack said—" Danny halted abruptly, covering his mouth with both hands, a look in his eyes that told Daniel the boy had just said something he wasn't supposed to say.

"Jack said what, Danny?" Daniel asked, staring at the child piercingly.

The boy didn't reply, staring at his shoes.

"Danny, did you tell Jack about Sam and me?"

Danny began shuffling his feet. "Sort of."

Oh, great. "Danny, it was supposed to be a secret."

Danny finally looked at him. "But he already guessed!"

"He did?"

"First, he guessed that you and Sam were already dating, but when I said no, then he guessed right, that you liked each other in a romantic way, but weren't dating yet. So I thought that, because he guessed right, it would be okay to tell him the secret."

Daniel sat on the couch. "Okay, let me get this straight. Jack came to you and said that he'd figured out that something was going on between Sam and me, and then he made those guesses?"

Danny nodded.

"Why on Earth did he come to you instead of me or Sam?"

"I don't know."

"When did this happen?"

"After the Fourth of July party."

That's when Daniel realized what must have happened. Jack must have noticed the way he and Sam were acting toward each other. The colonel probably then put all the pieces together, including Danny's earlier question about the rules regarding relationships, and figured out that something was going on between Daniel and Sam. Crap.

"Uhhh . . . Danny, how much did you tell Jack? Did you tell him about that dinner you tricked us into going on?" Please say no. Please say no.

Danny nodded his head. "He thought it was really funny."

Daniel groaned, slumping back against the cushions, eyes closed. Oh, this was a disaster. Jack would tease them for the rest of their lives.

Danny stared at Daniel. "Are you mad at me?"

Daniel lifted his head off the backrest to look at the boy. "No, I'm not mad, but I really, really wish you hadn't told him about the dinner."

Danny's eyes returned to his shoes. "I'm sorry."

"Does he also know about the date we went on last night?"

"No, I couldn't call him because you were here and then Cassie was here. But he really wants to know how the dinner went. He said that he'd help me get you and Sam together, if the dinner didn't work."

"Wait a minute. Jack was going to play matchmaker with you?"

"What does matchmaker mean?"

"A matchmaker is someone who does things to try to get two people together. What you did with that dinner makes you a matchmaker."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Well, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. In this case, your matchmaking turned out to be a good thing." Daniel began to grin. "So, Jack was going to be a matchmaker, huh. We might be able to use this."

"What do you mean?"

"I need to call Sam."

Daniel called Sam's cell phone and asked her to come over, saying that something important had come up. When the major arrived, she was told everything. Her reaction to finding out that Jack knew about the trickery was pretty much the same as Daniel's had been.

"Daniel, he's never going to let us live this down," she moaned.

"I know. But there is one good thing. I've learned that Jack clearly has no problem with us dating." Daniel told her the rest of it, how Jack had volunteered to help with the matchmaking.

Sam just gaped at him. "The colonel? Playing matchmaker?"

Daniel grinned. "Yeah, I know. Kind of blows your mind, doesn't it? I think we can use this to our advantage, though."

"How?"

"Oh, I had a bit of blackmail in mind."

"Blackmail?" both Sam and Danny questioned.

"Uh huh," Daniel turned to Danny. "But I'm going to need your help."

* * *

The song mentioned in this chapter is "For the First Time", written and composed by Jud Friedman, Allen Rich and James Newton-Howard and performed by both Rod Stewart and Kenny Loggins. You can find the lyrics and MP3 samples online. 


	24. Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Jack was busy trimming his hedges when his cell phone rang.

"Hey, Jack."

"Daniel. How's it going?"

"Good. Um, I hate to bother you, but would you be able to come over and watch Danny for about an hour?"

"Sure, no problem. Do you need me now?"

"Well, as soon as you can get here."

"Okay, just let me wash up, and I'll be right over."

"Thanks."

Jack pulled up in front of Daniel's house around ten minutes later. To his surprise, he saw Sam's car. Thinking that she might have just happened to drop by, Jack knocked on the door. Daniel answered.

"Hey, Jack. Come on in."

Jack entered the house. Sam was sitting on the couch, Danny beside her.

"Hello, sir," she greeted.

"Take a seat, Jack," Daniel instructed, settling on the couch on the other side of Danny.

"Okay, what's going on?" Jack asked as he sat down.

"First off, Sam and I are aware that you know about that dinner Danny tricked us into going on."

Jack smiled slightly. "Yes. I thought it was pretty funny."

"Uh huh. Would you care to learn what the result of that dinner was?"

Jack hesitated before saying yes.

"Sam and I went on our first date last night," Daniel told him.

Jack looked back and forth between his teammates. "And?"

"And we're hoping that what Danny told us means that you don't have a problem with us being in a relationship, sir," Sam replied.

A pleased little smile quirked up the corners of Jack's mouth. "If you can keep your relationship and your jobs separate, I have no problem with it at all. Frankly, it's about time that you two got a love life." Jack's smile grew. "I wonder how many other people can say that they have an eight-year-old to thank for getting them together." He was grinning gleefully now. "Some people are going to _love_ hearing this story."

The little smile that came to Daniel's lips instantly warned Jack that something was coming.

"Yes, Jack, just as they're going to love hearing that you volunteered to play matchmaker," the archeologist responded. "I think the news that the tough Colonel Jack O'Neill is a romantic matchmaker at heart will give everyone on base a whole new perspective on you." He turned to Sam. "Don't you think so?"

"Oh, yes, I agree. I think everyone would like to know that the colonel has that soft side to his personality."

Daniel nodded. "Just what I thought."

"You wouldn't dare," Jack said.

Daniel gave him a look that spoke volumes. "Oh, wouldn't I."

Jack glared at him. "It's your word against mine. I'll deny everything."

Daniel's eyebrows lifted slightly. "Aren't you forgetting someone?" He looked down at Danny.

Jack gazed at the boy. "You wouldn't do that to me, would you? We're buddies, pals."

"Daniel said that it would only be fair that, if you told everyone about the dinner, we should tell everyone about you promising to help me get him and Sam together," Danny replied.

"Traitor," Jack muttered under his breath. He subjected Daniel to another glare. "Okay, what do you want?"

"Only one thing, Jack: your silence. You are not to breathe a word of that dinner to _anyone_, not a single person, _ever_, and that includes teasing us about it. In exchange, no one will ever be told that you volunteered to help get us together, and we will never mention it again."

Jack frowned. "That is so not fair, Daniel. I was looking forward to all the great jabs I was going to get in on you two. Heck, I already thought up a few."

Daniel shrugged. "It's up to you. I've already composed the notice that will be posted on the SGC bulletin board about Matchmaker Jack O'Neill." He smiled. "Would you like to read it?"

Jack made a little growling sound. "This is blackmail."

"Yep."

Jack stared at Carter. "You know, if I wasn't such a nice guy, I could have you court – martialed for disrespecting a superior officer."

Sam smiled sweetly. "Only if I actually was a part of it, sir. We've already agreed that everything will come from Daniel, with Danny as the corroborating witness. I'll have no part in any of it."

"I am seeing a whole new side of you two, a cruel, evil side."

"Any more cruel and evil than you causing embarrassment for us by spreading the word around base about that dinner?" Daniel asked pointedly.

Jack knew that Daniel had a good point. He just didn't want to admit it. "Fine! I'll keep my mouth shut."

The archeologist smiled. "That's all we want."

Now, Jack was pouting slightly. "You sure do know how to take the wind out of somebody's sails."

"I'm sure you'll recover."

The colonel sat back in his chair. "So, you two are dating, huh. Well, I have to admit that I can't think of two people who are more suited to each other. I guess congratulations are in order."

"Thank you, sir," Sam said. She looked at her watch. "I really need to get going, Daniel. I've got a lot to get done."

"Okay, I'll walk you out to the car."

After Daniel and Sam had left the house, Jack and Danny sat looking at each other for all of four seconds, then, with a little grin from Jack, they dashed to the window and peeked out. They watched Daniel accompany Sam to her car and talk with her for a moment. Then what they'd been waiting for happened. Daniel placed a hand on Sam's face and pulled her to him in a gentle kiss. For Jack, the sight of that kiss really drove home the fact that things would be changing on the team. Even if Sam and Daniel kept their relationship separate from work, the team dynamic would be different, especially during off-duty hours.

Jack looked down at Danny, who was grinning happily. "So, you really wanted to see this happen, didn't you."

"Daniel was very sad when he thought they had to stay just friends."

"And you want him to be happy."

Danny nodded.

Jack ruffled his hair, smiling.

Seeing that Sam was pulling away from the curb, Jack and Danny hurried back to their seats. The archeologist came into the house. He looked at Danny, and then Jack, and the expression on his face told the colonel they were busted even before the archeologist spoke.

"So, Jack, both a matchmaker _and_ a Peeping Tom. You just keep unfolding like a flower."

Knowing that there was no point in denying that they had deliberately spied on Daniel and Sam, Jack responded, "Hey, it was just a kiss. That doesn't make us Peeping Toms."

"Yes, you're right," Daniel agreed. "It just makes you big snoops."

"What's a Peeping Tom?" Danny asked.

The two men exchanged a glance.

"Um . . . that's something I'll have to tell you when you're a bit older, Danny," Daniel replied.

Jack looked at the boy. "Hey, Danny? Could you go out back and play for a while? I have something private that I need to talk with Daniel about."

"Okay." The boy went off into the backyard.

Daniel headed to the kitchen. "You want something to drink?"

"Danny said that you're in love with Carter."

Daniel froze in the act of bending down to fetch something from the fridge. He straightened up and shut the door, then just stood there, staring at it.

"Is that true?" Jack asked softly.

Daniel sighed quietly. "Yes."

"For how long?"

"The truth? I really don't know. For a very long time, I think. I just didn't see it."

"Because of Sha're."

"Yeah." Daniel went over to the counter and leaned back against it, arms crossed over his chest, his gaze on the floor. "You want to know what's really funny? The first time I actually consciously felt it was when I didn't even know who I was." Daniel lifted his head and stared off at nothing. "That day on Vis Uban, I looked at Sam, and I think that, way down deep inside, I just . . ." his eyes went to Jack's, "I just knew."

"You mean that you've been dealing with this since then?"

"No. Once I started remembering about Sha're and everything else, I forgot all about those feelings I had when Sam talked to me in my tent. This stuff that's been going on between us didn't get started until a few weeks ago. And it hit me like a blow to the stomach. I did fight it, Jack. I tried to deny what I was feeling. It did absolutely no good."

"How well I know that," Jack murmured.

Daniel hesitated only a moment before saying, "Jack, I know that you and Sam had feelings for each other."

The gray-haired man grimaced. "I was hoping you didn't. Falling for Sam was not one of the brightest things I've done."

"You loved her." It was spoken as a statement, not a question.

"Yeah. Not in the way I loved Sara, the way a part of me will _always_ love Sara, but the feelings were there."

Daniel looked deeply into his eyes. "Were?"

"I put aside those feelings a long time ago, Daniel. It would never have worked out between us anyway. If the regs hadn't been in the way and we'd tried to make a go of it, we'd probably have lasted all of six months, if that. We'd have started fighting way sooner than that. We just wouldn't have had what it takes to make a successful relationship. John Lennon may have sung that all you need is love, but, in the real world of relationships, it doesn't work that way." He looked at Daniel. "You and Sam, on the other hand, already have everything you need for a great relationship." He grinned wickedly. "Well, I don't know about the sex part."

Daniel turned beet-red and gave a little cough, quickly focusing his attention elsewhere. Jack smirked at the reaction.

"So, when's your next date?"

"Whenever we can go on one. This week and the weekend are going to be pretty busy, especially when I start moving into the new house."

Jack smiled. "I'm thinking that you getting a house with three bedrooms is a very good thing. There might come a day when that third bedroom will really be needed."

Daniel knew what Jack was hinting at and chose not to respond. The idea of having children with Sam was something he really liked, but. . . . Oh.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, seeing a look of sadness pass over Daniel's face.

The archeologist went back to the refrigerator and began rummaging around inside. "Nothing."

"Didn't look like nothing to me."

Daniel got some juice from the fridge and poured himself a glass. "Want some?"

"Daniel, you should know that, whatever it is, you can tell me."

Daniel stared down into the contents of his glass. "I don't think I can father children," he murmured in a very low voice.

The statement took Jack completely by surprise. "Why do you say that?"

"Because, in spite of a year of trying, I couldn't give Sha're a baby, yet Apophis could."

"And you think that means you're sterile?" No wonder Daniel had been so determined to help the Cedarnans.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm not completely sterile, but my sperm count could be low enough that it'll be hard for me to father a child."

"I'm assuming that you haven't had this checked."

"No, I had no reason to. After Sha're died, whether or not I was . . . shooting blanks didn't really matter, not until now." Daniel bowed his head, leaning against the counter. "What if Sam wants a baby, and I can't give her one?"

Jack walked up to his friend. "Hey, don't you go making assumptions, Daniel. You don't know this for certain. You should have it checked."

"And if it turns out to be true?"

"Then you'll deal with it. There's more than one way to have children. Heck, that little kid outside proves that . . . though I wouldn't recommend cloning as an alternative."

Daniel took a drink of his juice. "Well, there's no sense in even talking about this now. Sam and I have only gone on one date. Having children together would be a long way off."

Jack snorted. "Daniel, with your track record, you and Carter will be married inside six months."

"I seriously doubt that, Jack. Sha're was a unique case, as you well know. Jacob is not Kasuf, and this is not Abydos." That's when Daniel thought about Sam's father. "Oh. We're going to have to tell Jacob, aren't we."

"Yes, that might be a good idea."

"How do you think he'll react?"

"You have nothing to worry about, Daniel. Jacob will love the idea that you're dating his daughter."

Daniel turned to him in surprise. "He will?"

"Of course he will."

"I'm not so sure."

Jack draped an arm over Daniel's shoulders. "Don't worry, Daniel. Jacob knows how close you and Carter are. He knows that you're a really good friend to her."

"Being her friend and being her. . . ."

"Lover?" Jack supplied.

Daniel shifted in discomfort at Jack's bluntness. "Those are two entirely different things, especially to a father."

"I'll tell you what, Daniel. If it turns out that Jacob isn't happy about your relationship with Carter, I'll have a little talk with him."

"Don't you dare!" Daniel exclaimed. "You just stay out of it. Sam would be mortified to have her C.O. talking to her father about our relationship, and I wouldn't be crazy about it either."

"Suit yourself. But, like I said, I really don't think it's going to be a problem."

* * *

Monday was a busy day for everyone, particularly for Daniel, who was trying to get as much work done as possible while he could. He'd be taking several days off to deal with moving. Packing up the house would begin tonight. Fortunately, he hadn't accumulated a lot of possessions since returning from ascension. A great deal of the stuff he'd had before ascending was gotten rid of in one way or another.

Danny helped as much as he could in packing the boxes that evening. By the time Daniel went to bed that night, there was a pretty decent stack sitting by the door.

The following evening, Daniel and Danny walked in the front door of O'Malley's. When they got to the door for the side room, they found a sign on it that read, "If your name is Daniel Jackson, knock then wait ten seconds before entering."

"Jack, what have you got up your sleeve?" Daniel muttered as he followed the instructions. Ten seconds later, he and Danny stepped in the room – and came to a dead stop. Instead of just his teammates, the room was packed with people, who all exclaimed, "Happy Birthday!"

Mouth hanging open, Daniel looked around at all the familiar, smiling faces. All of them were people from the SGC, with three exceptions, two of which stunned the archeologist.

"Catherine? Jon?"

Catherine Langford and Jack's clone both came forward. The elderly woman gave him a hug.

"Jack told me they were going to have a special party for your birthday and invited me." She smiled down at Danny. "I decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to meet this young man." Then she looked at Jon. "But I certainly wasn't expecting to meet _this_ young man. That was quite a surprise. I had no idea you weren't the only person who was cloned."

Daniel turned his full attention to the teenager. "I sure wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Jack invited me. I guess he figured that I had as much right to celebrate this day as he did."

Daniel smiled. "I'm glad he did." He looked down at his own clone. "Danny, I'd like you to meet Catherine Langford. She is a very special friend of mine. If it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have gotten into the Stargate Program."

Catherine bent over and met Danny's eyes. "I am very pleased to meet you, Danny. I'll have to tell you all about how I first met Daniel and got to know him."

Jack came up to them with a grin. "You should have seen the look on your face, Daniel. It was priceless. I'm sure glad Ferretti brought his camera."

Oh, wonderful. Daniel turned to the boy beside him. "Danny, remind me to steal Ferretti's camera and burn the film."

Jack grinned even more widely. "It's digital. The pictures will be circulating throughout the base by morning."

Daniel let out a groan.

The archeologist didn't have much time to think about the embarrassing photos before he was fully immersed in the party. Everyone was delighted to be celebrating the birthday of a friend who had come back to them, and the room was filled with laughter and animated conversation before and during the meal.

Several times, Daniel caught Sam's eyes and knew what she was thinking. They were both wishing that they could be out in the open about their relationship and not have to pretend that they were just friends around these people.

Shortly after the meal was over, Daniel left to go to the restroom. He heard a familiar voice call his name and turned to see Cassie. He waited for her to join him.

"Okay, so why isn't she here with you?" the teenager asked.

"Who? Oh, you mean the woman I'm dating?"

"Of course that's who I mean. I'd have thought she would want to be here."

"Cassie, she and I are not ready for our relationship to be made public knowledge."

"Why? Is she married or something?"

"No! Of course not."

"Then I think you should have invited her, let your friends meet her. I bet everyone would be happy to know that you have a girlfriend. I know Mom would. She's mentioned that she doesn't think you should stay alone."

Daniel stared at her. "She has?" He didn't think he liked the idea that Janet and Cassie had been talking about him like that. He pushed that thought aside. "Cassie, when the time is right, everyone will be told about the relationship."

Not waiting for the teen's response, Daniel continued to the bathroom, thinking about Cassie's statements. They were still in his mind when he returned to the party. He headed over to Sam and led her over to a corner, as far away from everyone else as they could get.

"Sam, I've been thinking."

"So have I," Sam responded.

"About the same thing?"

"I don't know. I've been thinking that, sooner or later, we're going to have to tell everyone about us. . . ."

"And this wouldn't be a bad time to do it," Daniel finished.

"Yeah."

"What about General Hammond, though? Shouldn't he be told ahead of time?"

"Normally, yes," Sam replied, "but I think he'd forgive us for not doing so. He's here at the party, so it's not like everybody else would find out before him."

Daniel nodded. "So, what do you say?"

Sam smiled. "I say let's go for it."

Daniel began to grin. "Okay, and I have the perfect way to do it."

A few minutes later, Daniel was led to the birthday cake so that he could blow out the candles.

"Speech!" Ferretti yelled, which was echoed by a few others.

Daniel looked around at all the people there. "A year ago, I wasn't here with all of you. I didn't have my friends," he looked at his teammates, who were standing beside him, "or my family. I know that some of you missed me a great deal during that year. Though the circumstances of me leaving were beyond my control, I know in my heart that coming back to all of you was not, and it is something that I will never regret doing."

Everyone in the room applauded, more than one person a bit teary-eyed.

Daniel smiled. "All of you really surprised me with this party, and, now, it's my turn to surprise you."

Sam, who had been standing next to Daniel, moved a little closer to him. The archeologist searched the crowd until he found Cassie.

"Hey, Cassie? A few days ago, you asked me a question that I wouldn't answer. Well, I'm giving you the answer now."

With those words, Daniel turned to Sam, pulled her into his arms and took her mouth in a deep kiss. With a portion of their minds, they heard a few things hitting the floor and more than one gasp, but they paid no attention to it.

When the couple finally separated and looked at the crowd, they almost burst into laughter. With the exception of Jack, Danny and Teal'c, every person in the room was gaping at them in utter shock, jaws nearly on the floor. Even Jack looked surprised, clearly not having expected them to announce their relationship in such a manner. Too bad Ferretti was too stunned to be taking pictures right now.

Grinning ear-to-ear, Daniel said, "Now, let's see about blowing out these candles." He looked down at the cake. Closing his eyes, he made a wish with all his heart that he and Sam would spend the rest of their lives together, with Danny always a part of those lives, then he took a deep breath and blew out the candles.

Several people had recovered enough to clap. Jack stepped up to the couple, fighting to keep the grin off his face.

"Well, I've gotta hand it to you. I was _so_ not expecting that. I thought for sure that you guys would try to keep your relationship under the radar for as long as possible."

"It was a sudden decision," Daniel told him. "We figured that there really was no point in keeping it a secret."

"You do realize that, by tomorrow afternoon, everyone at the SGC will know."

"Yes, sir, we already figured that," Sam replied.

"Okay, go on and answer the million questions everyone here is dying to ask. I'll take care of cutting and serving the cake."

The first ones to descend on Daniel and Sam were Janet and Cassie.

"You-you-you sneak!" the teenager exclaimed at Daniel. "Sam? Sam is the woman you're dating?"

Daniel grinned, putting an arm around Sam's waist. It actually felt good to do that in front of everyone. "Yes, she is."

"Cassie just told me that she knew you were dating somebody," Janet said. "So, how come I didn't know about this?"

"Did she tell you that our first date was on Saturday?"

"No. Then you two haven't been involved for long."

"No, this is pretty new to us."

The doctor smiled. "Well, though you really surprised me, it wasn't a bad surprise. In fact, I'm delighted. You're both way past due to have love in your lives, and I think that you'll be great together."

"So do I," Cassie agreed. "Though I still can't believe that the mystery woman is Sam. That just blows me away."

Danny came bounding up to them. "Did you see the look on everybody's faces when you kissed? All of their mouths were open, and their eyes got really big."

The adults laughed.

"Yes, we did see that," Daniel replied, grinning. "I thought they all looked like big fish that were out of water."

Cassie punched his shoulder. "Hey. That's not nice."

"But it is true," Sam remarked, also grinning.

"Yeah, and guess what! Somebody got a picture!" Danny crowed.

Daniel's eyes lit up. "They did? Who? I know it wasn't Ferretti, because he was doing the fish act along with everyone else."

"Whoever it is, they're liable to find their lives in danger if that picture is posted anywhere on base," Janet commented.

Danny shook his head. "Uh uh. No he won't."

"Why not?"

The boy grinned. "Because it was Teal'c. Nobody would dare try hurting him."

"Teal'c?" Daniel said in surprise. "That's right. He had one of those little disposable cameras, didn't he." He chuckled. "I can't wait to see that picture. If that one of me is going to be circulated throughout the SGC, I think it's only fair that the same be done for that photo. As soon as Teal'c gets the film developed, I'll have to scan the pictures for him."

Danny nodded, agreeing. "And he got one of you and Sam kissing, too."

"I guess he recovered from the shock a lot faster than everyone else," Sam said.

"So, he didn't already know about this? Did Colonel O'Neill?" Janet asked.

"Yes, but General Hammond didn't," Sam replied, "so I expect that he'll want to have a long talk with us."

That talk didn't happen that evening, but several others did. Jack's clone had been utterly shocked by the revelation and had a few things to say to the couple.

"Jack told me that he knew about this," he said. "Man, when you guys spring a surprise, you sure don't pull your punches. This one came right out of left field."

"It certainly did," said Catherine as she came up to them. "But I couldn't be happier. I love both of you like my own children, and I am delighted that you're together." She took their hands in hers. "I know that you will be very happy."

A few minutes later, Ferretti came up to the couple. "Well, you two really outdid yourselves this time," he said. "I did not see that coming. I don't think anyone did. Jack says that he already knew, but nobody else did. How long have you been keeping this a secret?"

"Not long," Daniel replied. "We only just started dating."

"Well, I sure wish I'd known beforehand. I'd have gotten a picture."

"Cheer up, Ferretti. I understand that Teal'c did . . . along with a picture of you and everyone else gaping at us."

"Really? I'll have to get a copy. I'd still like to get one of my own, though." He looked back and forth between them. "Come on, guys. Give each other a big smooch, will ya?"

Sam and Daniel looked at each other.

"What do you say?" Daniel asked the astrophysicist.

"Oh, why not," she responded. "The other one will end up being posted at the SGC anyway."

Ferretti grinned. "Great! Okay, hold on till I get you framed right."

He stepped back a couple of paces and looked through the viewfinder at them.

Daniel whispered in Sam's ear, "I feel like some kind of celebrity who's got a tabloid photographer hounding him."

Sam giggled. "Me too."

"Okay, guys. Any time you're ready," Ferretti said.

Daniel and Sam went into each other's arms and, ignoring the fact that they were posing for a picture, exchanged a kiss, though, much to Ferretti's disappointment, no tongues were involved in this one.

"Oh, come on! You can do better than that!" he complained after taking the picture.

"Nope. Sorry, Lou," Daniel said. "Only one French kiss per performance."

Sam snorted in amusement. She should feel embarrassed by all of this, but she was having too much fun. And she certainly wasn't going to turn down an opportunity to kiss Daniel, which had very quickly made it on her list of all-time favorite things to do. If all the women at the SGC knew he could kiss like that, she'd have a fight on her hands to keep _their_ hands off him. As it was, the news that Daniel was no longer available would result in more than one broken heart on base, quite a few of which would be among Janet's nurses. In fact, right here at the party, Sam had noticed a couple of mournful expressions on the faces of female personnel, both of whom were women on Daniel's staff. Sam wondered if Daniel had any idea that some of his staff members felt like that about him. Probably not. For an intelligent man, he was amazingly dense when it came to his attractiveness to members of the opposite sex . . . and probably to a few members of the _same_ sex as well.

By the time the party ended, Daniel and Sam had lost count of how many people asked about their relationship. One thing was for sure. It was going to be very interesting at work tomorrow. 


	25. Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

By the time they got home from the party, it was way past Danny's bedtime, and the little boy was half asleep, though he still wanted to open the gifts he'd gotten. It turned out that, along with all the birthday presents for Daniel, there were quite a few for Danny as well. They were presently in Daniel's trunk, waiting to be brought in and opened. The archeologist told the boy that it would be much more fun opening them tomorrow, when they weren't so tired.

Once Danny was tucked into bed, Daniel returned to the living room. His teammates and Catherine were all there, having followed him back to his place so that they could talk.

"So, did General Hammond approach you?" Jack asked his youngest teammates.

"No, sir," Sam replied. "He's probably waiting until he can talk to us privately."

"Well, he asked me if I knew about it. I told him yes, but only since Friday. I made sure he understood that this is a new development in your relationship."

"Any idea on how he feels about it?" Daniel asked.

"No, he didn't give a clue."

"I'm guessing that he'll call us into his office tomorrow morning."

"I thought you were taking tomorrow off because of escrow closing."

"I won't be signing the papers until one o'clock. My plan was to get some work done in the morning, although, now, I'm almost wishing that I hadn't planned on coming in at all. I can just imagine what's going to happen there tomorrow."

Jack grinned. "Ah, yes. You and Carter will be the talk of the town. As soon as I leave here, I plan on dropping off the film Teal'c shot at one of those one-hour photo developing places that has a drop box so that I can pick the prints up first thing in the morning and have them in hand when people start clamoring for them."

Daniel stared at him. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you."

"Hell, yes. If Teal'c hadn't taken that picture of everyone's reaction to your kiss, I'd have grabbed the camera and done it myself."

"Not to change the subject," Catherine said, "but what's this about escrow?"

"Oh. I'm buying a house," Daniel replied. "This one is way too small for the two of us."

The woman nodded, then smiled. "That child is a pure delight, Daniel. I got the opportunity to chat with him a bit at the party. His knowledge of Egyptology is already quite impressive, and when he found out that I could speak German, he switched to that language and told me some jokes that a German man on a dig taught him. Don't worry. They were perfectly innocent."

Daniel also smiled. "Yes, I remember them. Hans was quite a character."

Catherine blinked. "Yes, of course you do." She laughed. "I actually forgot for a moment what Danny is, that all those experiences came from your memories. Your parents must have been very proud of you."

"They always told me they were. Their pride in me was one of the reasons why I was determined to be the best in archeology that I could be. I wanted to believe that they'd still be proud of me if they were here."

"I have no doubt that they would be, Daniel. I know that if I was your mother, I would be very proud of you."

"When do you have to go back home, Catherine?" Sam asked.

"Not until Saturday morning."

Daniel's expression turned regretful. "I wish I wasn't going to be busy with moving. I'd like to spend some time with you. I'd put off the packing, but my landlord is expecting me to be out of here by the middle of next week."

"I wouldn't expect you to put it off, Daniel. After all, you didn't know I was coming. But I'd be happy to help you move."

Daniel shook his head. "Catherine, I'm certainly not going to put you to work while you're visiting. That's out of the question."

"Are you going to have any other help?"

"We're all coming over as soon as we get off work on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday," Sam replied, "and we'll be helping the whole weekend."

The elderly woman turned back to Daniel. "Then it really sounds like you could use a hand until the weekend." Daniel was going to object again, but she didn't give him a chance. "Besides, it will give us a chance to talk. You don't expect me to just sit on the couch, doing nothing, while you run around packing boxes, do you?"

Daniel gave in. "All right, you win."

"Come on. Let's get those gifts inside," Jack said.

As the presents were put on the table, Daniel noticed that, instead of an individual gift from each of his teammates, there was a single one from all of them. He looked at them questioningly.

"We decided to pool our money and get you something special," Sam explained.

The box was very light, and Daniel wondered what was inside.

"Go ahead and open it," Jack told him. "I don't think Danny will mind."

Daniel unwrapped the box and opened it. He was surprised to see an envelope inside. He was even more surprised when the contents of the envelope proved to be airline tickets. His eyes widened.

"Egypt?"

"The last time you were there, you weren't able to enjoy it," Sam said, smiling. "We knew that you always wished you could go back there for fun, and we figured that Danny would love to go, too."

"The tickets are for November, which we understand is a nice time of year there," Jack told him. "You let us know where you want to go in the country and where you want to stay, and we'll make all the arrangements for hotels, car rentals, stuff like that. This vacation is on us. There's more in the envelope."

Daniel looked inside and saw that there was a folded piece of paper.

"That was a last minute contribution from Catherine."

Daniel unfolded the piece of paper and saw that it was a letter from Professor Harvard, a name Daniel recognized as a well-known figure in the archeological community. As he read the letter, his eyes got even wider.

"I still have a lot of friends in the community, Daniel," Catherine explained, "and many of them don't look down upon you and your theories. Professor Harvard is one of them. He will be in Egypt, overseeing a dig throughout October, November and December, and he would be delighted to have you and Danny spend a few days with them."

Daniel looked up at his friends, his eyes filled with emotion. "I . . . I don't know what to say."

"Thank you is more than enough, Daniel," Jack replied.

"Thank you," the archeologist said softly, yet fervently. "This is wonderful, and Danny's going to love it. We can visit some of the sites Mom and Dad worked on, and he can see how the digs have progressed in the past thirty years."

Jack wagged a finger at him. "Just remember, Daniel. Those tickets give you three weeks there. We want you back afterwards, so don't you get any ideas about staying."

Daniel smiled. "I won't, Jack. Though I will always love Egypt, I know where my home is."

* * *

Daniel was later getting to work the next morning than he had planned since it took a while to unwrap all the gifts, even with Danny's help. When Daniel told the boy about the tickets to Egypt, Danny was ecstatic and couldn't wait for the trip, though he said that he wished everyone else could go, too, especially Sam. Daniel had explained that, while Sam and Teal'c might both like to go, Jack would find a trip to Egypt terribly boring.

As Daniel and Sam had already guessed, the situation at the SGC was pretty interesting. From the moment they arrived at work, they were subjected to stares and whispered comments. Apparently, Ferretti had made a point of getting to the base very early and had already done a good job of spreading the news about Sam and Daniel, waving around the picture he had of them kissing.

As soon as Jack arrived, he brought the prints to Daniel's office, having gone down and snagged Teal'c first. Sam happened to be in the office.

Jack waved the pictures at them with a grin. "You're gonna love these." He pulled them out of the sleeve and spread them across the table. The first picture was of Daniel's entrance, taken from a different angle than Ferretti's had been. It showed the same stunned expression on the linguist's face. Daniel paid little attention to it, his eyes going straight to two other photos. One was of the kiss. Surprisingly, Daniel didn't feel as embarrassed about the photo as he'd thought he would be. In fact, looking at it, he decided it was a nice photo. He and Sam looked really good together. He'd have to get some enlargements made. Then there was the other photo. It had perfectly captured the look of stunned disbelief on everyone's faces. And, yes, they did all look like fish.

Jack pointed at that picture. "That could win a prize in one of those photo contests. I am so looking forward to showing it around."

"You're going to have to fight Ferretti for the honor," Daniel told him. "He's been waiting for these."

"Hah! Let him show everyone the pictures _he_ took. Teal'c and I are hanging on to these." He looked around. "Hey, where's Danny?"

"Catherine's watching him," Daniel replied. "She called this morning and asked if I needed a babysitter. I decided that, since I'm only staying here half the day, it would be easier to leave Danny at home."

Daniel's phone rang. He picked it up and spoke to the person on the other end. As he hung up, he met Sam's eyes.

"The general wants us in his office as soon as possible."

Jack looked at the suddenly nervous expression on the faces of the two scientists. "Hey, don't worry. I'm sure he'll be fine about this."

Despite Jack's words, Daniel and Sam were still nervous when they entered Hammond's office.

"Please take a seat," he instructed.

"Sir, before you say anything, we want to apologize for not telling you about this beforehand," Sam said as they sat down.

"That whole thing last night was not planned," Daniel explained. "It was a spur of the moment decision."

"I suspected that it was," Hammond said. "I'm not upset about not being told about this before everyone else found out. Colonel O'Neill says that this change in your relationship is quite new."

Sam nodded. "We went on our first date on Saturday."

"And before then? Something must have taken place for you to realize that your feelings for each other had changed."

The couple exchanged a glance.

"We've both been feeling things for a few weeks now," Daniel replied. "We had decided not to do anything about it, but . . . circumstances changed."

"I see." Hammond studied the two of them. "As you may know, the fact that you are teammates does cause an issue in regards to this. There is the questions of whether or not your relationship will adversely affect your ability to act professionally on missions, not to mention concerns about command decisions on the occasions when Major Carter is leading the team. Obviously, the easiest thing to do is to transfer one of you off SG-1, but that is not something I want to do. So, I'm going to ask you a question, and I want a completely honest answer." The general studied them closely. "Do you feel that you can keep your relationship from affecting your performance on missions?"

"Obviously, we can't say with absolute certainty, sir," Sam replied, "but, yes, I think we can. Daniel and I had a strong emotional connection even before this started. We have loved each other as friends for all this time. It's never stopped us from doing what had to be done."

"And do you agree, Doctor Jackson?"

"Yes," Daniel answered.

General Hammond was silent for a moment. "All right. For now, we will keep things as they are. But I will expect you or one of your teammates to come forward if there are any problems."

Daniel and Sam relaxed.

"Thank you, sir," Sam said.

* * *

Catherine carefully wrapped the artifact in newspapers and placed it in the box. She had decided that, while she was here, she might as well get busy on helping Daniel pack. At the moment, she was working on his collection of artifacts and art objects from across the globe. Danny was helping. The boy knew how to properly handle the fragile artifacts, so she didn't fear that he'd get careless and break something.

Catherine was finding it quite fascinating to watch this little boy, to see a glimpse into what Daniel was like as a young child. Danny was extraordinarily intelligent and soaked up any knowledge she gave him like a sponge. No wonder Daniel had been able to amass such a staggering amount of knowledge and had twenty-three spoken languages to his credit by the time Catherine met him.

"You said you'd tell me about how you met Daniel," the boy said as he handed a statue to the woman.

Catherine smiled. "Ah, yes. Well, the very first time I saw him, he was giving a lecture in Los Angeles. You see, Daniel believed that the pyramids were much older than everyone thought they were and that they were not built by the Egyptians, and he wanted to prove it to the archeological community. That's what the lecture was for."

"Did they believe him?"

"No, they didn't. In fact, they laughed at him and all walked out."

Danny frowned severely. "That wasn't nice."

"No, it wasn't. I felt very sorry for him, especially since I was pretty sure that he was right."

Danny's eyes lit with interest. "He was?"

"Yes. How much do you know about the Stargate, how it was found?"

"Daniel said it was dug up on the Giza Plateau in 1928."

"That's right. I was there when it happened."

Danny's eyes widened. "You were?"

"I was a little girl at the time. I was there with my father. I'll never forget the sight of the Stargate being lifted out of the desert sand. None of us knew what it was back then."

"Wow."

Catherine smiled. "Many years later, when I was a young woman, I was involved with the project that was studying the Stargate, trying to get it to work. I wasn't directly a part of the project, but my father and my fiance were. The work was halted, though, after something happened."

"What?"

"Well, I was told that there was an accident, an explosion that destroyed the lab, and that Ernest, the man I was going to marry, had been killed. It wasn't until many, many years later that I found out that had been a lie. The team working on the Stargate had, quite by accident, gotten it to work. Ernest volunteered to go through the gate. None of them really understood how the gate worked, and it was a foolish decision. Immediately after Ernest went through, the gate shut down, and he never came back."

"Never?"

"Not until over fifty years later, when we found him on a planet where he had been living all alone all that time."

"He was all by himself for fifty years?"

"Yes," Catherine replied.

"He must have been really lonely."

"Yes, he was. He was so glad to see us when we arrived. Anyway, after Ernest disappeared, the project was shut down. It was eventually started back up again. Once we had a computer that could control the Stargate, we began trying to make it work, but, for two years, we failed. When the Stargate was found in Egypt, there was a coverstone over it. The coverstone had symbols on it that we couldn't translate. We didn't recognize them. The same symbols were on the Stargate itself."

"They're star constellations," Danny said. "That's what Daniel told me."

"Yes, we know that now, thanks to Daniel. But we didn't back then. We believed that, if we knew what those symbols were, it would help us figure out how to make the gate work. I decided that we needed somebody new on the project. I'd heard about Daniel. I knew about his theories on the pyramids. From tests that were run, we knew that the coverstone was far older than it should be, at least ten thousand years old. That and some other things we'd learned led me to believe that Daniel's theories on the pyramids were right and that he might be just the man we needed on the project."

"So, you brought him to see the Stargate?"

"Well, that was the plan, but, before we could tell Daniel about the Stargate, the military decided to make everything even more classified than it had been."

"I'm classified," Danny informed her, which earned a smile.

"Yes, I should imagine you are. Well, the military wouldn't let us tell Daniel about the Stargate because he didn't have clearance."

"Why didn't he have clearance if he was supposed to help you?"

"Because he was new on the project. I guess they weren't ready to trust him yet."

Danny frowned again. "But how could he figure out how the Stargate worked if he didn't even know about it?"

"That's a very good question. But you know what? He _did_ figure it out."

"He did?"

"Yes, and he did it in only two weeks."

"But you said you'd tried for two years."

Catherine laughed. "That's right. Daniel proved to all of us how very smart he is. He figured out that the symbols were constellations, that their purpose was to chart a course to a certain point in space, and managed to identify the seventh symbol, which we hadn't been able to do. After he did that, the military gave permission for Daniel to see the Stargate."

"Cool."

"Yes. I was there when Daniel and Jack took their first trip through the gate."

"Jack was there, too?"

"Yes. Actually, he was the man who was brought in to take charge of the project for the military." Catherine's gaze grew distant with remembrance. "Jack was quite a bit different when I first met him. He wasn't the same man he is now."

"How come?"

Catherine studied the boy. "Do you know about Charlie?"

Danny shook his head. "Who's Charlie?"

"He was Jack's son. He was killed in an accident not long before Jack was put on the project."

Sadness filled Danny's eyes. "Jack's son died?"

"Yes, he did. I don't think he was much older than you when it happened. Jack was very sad. He didn't make jokes like he does now. He was very tough and serious and really not a very pleasant person. To be honest, I didn't like him very much. But, after he came back from that first mission through the gate, he gradually changed. He and I stayed in touch, and we became friends."

"Daniel said that he stayed for over a year on the planet they went to. That's where he met his wife."

"Yes, he did. He loved the Abydonians and their culture."

"Daniel's wife died."

"Yes, I know," Catherine responded somberly.

"Sam is the first person he's loved romantically since then."

Catherine smiled again. "Is that so? Well, I'm very glad that they love each other like that."

"Me too. Was Sam there when they went on the first mission?"

"No. She was part of the project, but she wasn't there at that time. She and Daniel didn't meet until a year later, when the second mission was sent to Abydos."

"When I'm an adult, I'm going to go through the Stargate," Danny stated.

Catherine ran a hand through his hair. "I have no doubt that you will."

* * *

When Janet asked if she and Sam could have lunch together, the astrophysicist was pretty sure that she knew the reason why. She was right. Not long after they sat down with their trays of food, the questions started.

"So, how long has this thing with you and Daniel been going on?" the doctor asked.

"We already told you that our first date was on Saturday."

"Yes, but that's obviously not when it started. There had to be something that came before that date. And I have to say that the kiss Daniel gave you at the party tells me that something more than just a single date has gone on between you." Janet stared at her keenly. "Unless that first date led to . . . something more."

Sam flushed. "No, that didn't happen."

"Well then?"

"All right. If you must know, Daniel and I have been feeling . . . things for each other for several weeks now, since about a week after we learned about Danny. We've, um . . . kissed before, several times."

"Yet you didn't start dating till now."

"We'd both decided not to pursue our feelings for each other. With us being on the same team, we figured it would be a bad idea. And we were worried that it would hurt our friendship if we tried and it didn't work out."

"But, apparently, you changed your minds."

"Yeah. We decided to take a chance." Sam smiled. "I'm glad that we did."

"You love him," Janet stated.

Sam's expression softened. "Yes, I do. I realize that, before now, I never really knew what it was like to truly love someone with my whole heart and soul."

"Well, I couldn't be happier for both of you."

* * *

Daniel left his office to grab a sandwich before heading off to the title company for the signing of the final papers. He was glad to get out of there and was even happier that he wouldn't be back for several days. Maybe by the time he got back, everything would be settled down.

Daniel had lost track of how many people had dropped by to express their surprise, delight, concerns, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera regarding his relationship with Sam. Apparently, the idea that two members of SG-1, the SGC's premier team, were now romantically involved was a source of much thought and speculation among the personnel. Daniel couldn't help but wonder how many new pools had been created today. He also had to wonder if anyone had won – or lost – any pools today.

"Daniel Jackson."

Daniel turned to see Teal'c walking up behind him.

"Hey, Teal'c." He waited for the Jaffa, and the two of them continued down the corridor.

"Are you departing?" Teal'c asked.

"Yes, pretty soon. I was just going down to the commissary to get a sandwich to take with me."

"You are most likely quite eager to take possession of your new residence."

"Very. It's going to be great not having to sleep on the couch or have Danny sleeping on it. And Danny will have a much bigger backyard to play in."

Daniel stopped at the elevator and pressed the button. He glanced at the man beside him. "Um, Teal'c, I haven't had a chance to ask you how you feel about my relationship with Sam. I know that you might be concerned about how it will affect the team."

"I have no such concerns, Daniel Jackson."

The archeologist stared at him. "You don't?"

"I have confidence that you and Major Carter will be able to conduct yourselves properly on missions, and I believe that the fact that you are now lovers will not harm the effectiveness of SG-1."

Daniel's face colored slightly. "Uh, we're, um, not lovers yet, but . . . but thanks. I'm glad to know that you have so much confidence in us."

"I also believe that your relationship will be a successful one. You and Major Carter have a strong bond of friendship and are alike in several ways, yet are not too much alike. You are . . . compatible. Books I have read state that such things help insure a strong, lasting, and happy relationship."

Daniel looked at the Jaffa in surprise. "You've read books on relationships?"

"Indeed. I was most intrigued to know how humans view courtship and relationships between males and females. The books were quite enlightening."

"I bet."

The elevator opened. Daniel and Teal'c stood aside to let someone out, then the archeologist got on. He held the door open as he said goodbye to Teal'c.

"I'll see you tonight, right?"

"Yes. I will be arriving at 1900 hours with O'Neill."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

When Daniel arrived home after going to the title company, he was surprised to see a new pile of filled boxes sitting beside the door.

"Wow, it looks like you guys have been busy," he said to Danny and Catherine.

The boy came bounding up to him. "Did you get it?"

Daniel grinned and held up a ring of keys, jingling them. "It's all ours, Danny."

"Yay, yay!" Danny shouted, dancing around. "Let's go show Catherine our new house!"

"Sure, why not."

The three of them got into Daniel's car and drove over to the house. As the archeologist unlocked the door and stepped inside, he smiled. This was their house, his and Danny's, and, maybe someday, Sam's as well.

As Danny grabbed Catherine's hand and began giving her a tour, Daniel looked around and began imagining the future. He saw himself, Sam and Danny all there together, living as a family. He saw other children, Sam with a baby on her hip, another child playing with Danny in the living room. He wanted that very much, even more than he'd realized until right at that moment.

Back when he and Sha're were trying to have a baby, Daniel had wanted it more for Sha're than for himself. He hadn't known if he was prepared to be a father. But everything was different now. Having Danny in his life had opened Daniel's eyes to the joys of being a parent. Yes, there were sorrows, too, but the joys far outweighed them. He wanted children, to have a chance to give them the kind of love that he didn't have after his parents died. He wanted to pass on the Jackson heritage to a new generation. But would he have that chance?

Choosing not to let that question dim his happiness, Daniel joined Danny and Catherine. They were in the bedroom that had a window looking out onto the backyard.

"Can this be my room, Daniel?" Danny asked. "You said I could have either of the littler bedrooms, and I want this one."

"Sure. Do you want a different color for the walls? If we're going to do any painting, we need to get it done before we move the furniture in."

Danny looked around at the light blue walls. "No, I like blue."

"Great. Then we need to see about buying you some furniture. You can have my bed since I'll be getting another one, but we need to get some other things for you, like a dresser and a desk."

Danny smiled brightly. "I get to have my own desk?"

"Of course, so you have a place to study and do your homework." Daniel paused. "And you have to have a place to put your computer."

Danny was now actually beaming. "I'm going to have my very own computer?"

"Yep."

"Oh, wow!" Danny ran forward and hugged Daniel tightly. "Thank you!"

The archeologist smiled down at him lovingly. "You're very welcome. Okay, let's go show Catherine the backyard. Then we need to get back home and do some more packing."

"That's not home anymore," Danny stated. "_This_ is home now."

"You're right, Danny. We'll call the other place our old home. How about that?"

"Okay."

By the time Daniel's teammates arrived that evening, he, Danny and Catherine had made pretty decent progress in the packing.

Everyone decided that the best thing to do first was to load up the stuff that was already packed and get it over to the new house.

Jack, Sam and Teal'c had only seen the outside of the house and the backyard up till now, so they also got a tour once they arrived, again conducted by Danny. The boy excitedly told them that he was going to have his own desk and computer.

"Excited about having a desk. That is simply not natural for an eight-year-old," Jack said. He looked at Daniel. "But then, I shouldn't be surprised considering where his genetic material came from. Oh, well, at least he's also got a great backyard to play in."

Jack had already expressed his approval of the backyard, stating that they'd have to have a housewarming barbeque out there as soon as Daniel was all moved in.

Once the stuff was all unloaded, everyone headed back over to the old place, Jack and Teal'c stopping to get dinner for everyone on the way.

The rest of the evening was spent packing and talking. With all of them there together, the time went by fast, and they got quite a bit done.

"You know, I think we're going to get you out if here well before the deadline, Daniel," Jack remarked, looking about. "You haven't had a chance to collect a bunch of junk yet. A lot of this stuff we're packing is what I kept after you ascended."

"Ascended?" Danny immediately inquired.

_'Oh, crap,'_ was the thought that went through more than one mind.

Jack met Daniel's eyes, silently apologizing and cursing his big mouth.

Danny looked at all the adults, seeing the expressions on their faces. "What's wrong? Why are you all looking like that?"

Daniel approached the boy. "Danny, there are some things we didn't tell you about that year I was gone away, things that are very hard to explain."

"It's something really bad, isn't it."

"Yes, some of it's bad, which is one of the reasons why I didn't want to tell you. Um, this isn't the right time to talk about it. Let's wait until after all the moving is done and we're in our new house. Then I'll tell you about it."

"All right."

"Okay, it's past time for you to go to bed."

Once Danny was in bed, Daniel came back out to the others.

"Crap, Daniel. I'm really sorry," Jack apologized again. "It just slipped out."

"I know. It probably would have happened sooner or later anyway."

"How much are you going to tell him?" Sam asked, worried about how Danny would react.

"Well, obviously, I'm not going to go into the gory details about how I . . . how I died. And I'm going to have to keep the whole thing about ascension as simple as possible. I honestly don't know how much of it he'll understand."

The mood was more subdued for the remainder of the evening. Everyone left at 10:30, Jack, Teal'c and Sam saying they'd return at the same time tomorrow. Catherine would be arriving in the morning.

Daniel went into the bedroom to watch the sleeping boy. How was he going to tell Danny about the events that had branded such a deep mark on Daniel's soul, that had so completely changed his life? Somehow, he would have to find the words.

With a sigh, Daniel turned away and headed off to bed. 


	26. Chapter 26

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Between Catherine's help during the day and everyone else's help in the evenings, by the time the weekend came, virtually all of Daniel's possessions were in the new place.

It was Saturday morning now, and everyone was at the Colorado Springs airport to see Catherine off. She hugged each of them, giving an extra long one to Danny.

"I'm going to miss you," she said to the boy.

"I'm going to miss you, too," Danny responded. "I wish you lived here."

"That would be nice, but my family and my work are over there. But I'll try to visit as often as I can." She straightened, meeting Daniel's eyes. "Walk with me to the security checkpoint."

Saying a final goodbye to the others, Catherine walked with Daniel the final few yards.

"Daniel, I want you to know that I've been watching you with Danny, and I think that you are doing a wonderful job. You have displayed all the patience, wisdom and love of a good father. I know that your own childhood was not a happy one, and I'm glad to see that experience did not harm your ability to be a parent. I think that, instead, it helped you."

Daniel stared at the floor. "I just want him to be happy, Catherine. I want him to know that he's loved. I don't ever want him to doubt his worth, how important he is."

Her throat tightening at the thought of all the things Danny would have that Daniel had not had in his own childhood, Catherine embraced him.

"I know that you'll take good care of Danny, but I want you to take good care of yourself, too, Daniel." Catherine drew back and looked him straight in eyes. "Will you promise to do that?"

Daniel gave her a little smile. "I promise."

Catherine stepped back. "Now, I expect you to call me more often. You have to keep me updated on Danny, and I'll be wanting to talk with him, too."

Daniel's smile got a little bigger. "I will. Goodbye, Catherine."

The archeologist watched the woman get in line, then he rejoined the others. They all waited until Catherine had passed through the checkpoint, then left the airport.

"She's really nice," Danny said. "I wish she was my grandma."

"Well, maybe the next time you talk to her, you can ask if she can be your pretend grandmother, just like General Hammond is your pretend grandfather," Daniel suggested.

Danny smiled. "Okay."

Everyone went back to Daniel's. They loaded up the rest of the furniture and the remainder of the other stuff and took it to the new place. Then they picked up the new furniture Daniel had purchased.

"Wow. I can't believe we got it all done already," the archeologist said after the last piece of furniture had been put where it belonged.

"Yes, and now comes the lovely job of _un_packing," Jack remarked. "Good thing you labeled all the boxes so that you'd know where the most important stuff is."

"Well, right now, I need to start cleaning the other house, including shampooing the carpets. I want to get my security deposit back."

"I can help you with that," Sam told him.

"Sam, you guys have already been a big help. I don't want to make you do more."

"I don't mind, Daniel. Besides, the cleaning will get done twice as fast with me to help."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay, how about if Teal'c, Danny and I start unpacking the essentials here while you two get busy on cleaning the other place?" Jack suggested. "Oh, and don't try to shampoo the carpets yourself. For the time it takes to do it yourself, you'd be better off hiring professionals."

"That will have to be done on Monday, then. We can get everything else done today and tomorrow."

"After we take a break," Jack insisted. "I think we deserve it."

The five of them went out for a snack.

"When are we going to get my computer?" Danny asked Daniel as he ate his pie.

"I'm not sure. If there's time, we could go shopping for one tomorrow." Daniel looked at Sam. "Maybe we could get Sam to help. She's an expert in computers and would know which was the best one to get. I was thinking that a laptop would be good so that you can bring it to the SGC."

Sam smiled. "Sure. That would be fun."

Finishing their desserts, Jack, Teal'c and Danny went back to the new house while Daniel and Sam went to the old one to start in on the cleaning. Sam was right about the cleaning going faster with the two of them doing it together. When they got back to the new house, they found that the others had made decent progress in unpacking. All the kitchen stuff was sitting on the counters, ready to be put away.

"We figured that we'd better let you pick where you wanted the kitchen things put," Jack explained. "The TV, VCR and DVD player are all set up, and your collection of tapes and DVDs are in the cabinet. All of Danny's things are put away."

"Thanks, guys."

"So, did you get the cleaning done?"

"Yes, sir," Sam replied. "It didn't take long with the two of us. And Daniel's not a slob, so it's not like there was a lot of scrubbing to do."

"Great! So, this means that we'll have the whole day free tomorrow."

"Well, not exactly, Jack," Daniel corrected. "I'd like to get the rest of the unpacking done. But if you guys would like to take Danny somewhere tomorrow, that would be fine. Most of the rest of the unpacking needs to be done by me since I'm the one who has to decide where to put everything."

"We don't want to leave you here by yourself to do all that work while we go off and have fun, Daniel," Sam objected. "That wouldn't be right."

"Sam, you guys have been fantastic help already. Please, go have fun. You can take Danny to the electronics store and find a good computer for him. Either you can buy it, and I'll reimburse you or Danny and I can go down there later and get it."

"Well . . . okay, if you're sure."

"I'm sure."

Danny was excited about sleeping in his own room that night and took a long time to get to sleep. Once he was finally out, Daniel retired to his own bedroom. He gazed at the brand new queen-size bed. Back when he first returned to Earth from Abydos, he had gotten a queen-size bed for two reasons: the greater length of queens and kings was nicer for a six-foot-tall man, and he'd believed that, if they rescued Sha're before the Abydos gate was unburied again, she would be staying with him in his apartment. When Daniel returned from ascension, though the first reason still existed for getting a queen-size bed, the second one did not. Though his grief over his wife's death had eased greatly, Daniel decided that he didn't want a bed that was meant to sleep two. Of course, when he chose to rent the house that he did, a queen wouldn't have fit in the bedroom anyway.

Now, yet again, Daniel had been in need of a new bed, and he had once more gotten a queen, again for two reasons, the extra length and the hope that, someday soon, he would not be sleeping in it alone every night.

Staring at the bed, he imagined being in it with Sam, the two of them making love. With those pleasant thoughts as his companion, he got ready for bed and slipped under the covers. A short while later, he was asleep, where his dreams of being with Sam continued.

* * *

The next day, as Daniel unpacked, the rest of SG-1 spent the day with Danny. They went shopping for a computer for the boy and found one that met with Sam's approval. She, Jack and Teal'c all decided to share the cost of the computer with Daniel, so they went ahead and bought it. They also got a whole bunch of games for the boy, plus some educational programs and electronic books.

When they returned to Daniel's new house, they had bags full of groceries, Jack having insisted that tonight would be a good day for the housewarming. Janet and Cassie were invited, and everyone sat out on the veranda in patio chairs that Sam and Teal'c bought as a housewarming gift. The chairs went with two glass top tables, one of which was now full of food. Jack was happily cooking barbeque chicken on a grill, which was _his_ housewarming gift. Teal'c was standing by to make sure the chicken remained edible.

"I love the house, Daniel," Janet said.

"Thanks."

"We got it because it's like the one Mom and Dad had," Danny told her.

"Really?"

Daniel explained the similarities between this house and the one he and his parents had lived in.

After dinner, Danny climbed the tree, followed by Cassie, who stated that she wasn't too old yet to climb trees. The others, who all agreed that they were past the tree-climbing age, sat and chatted.

The tree-climbers came back down before it got too dark, and everyone went inside. Janet, Cassie and Daniel's teammates left shortly after that.

The next morning, Daniel called around to some of the carpet cleaners. No one could do the cleaning that day, but one service had an opening for tomorrow, so Daniel headed on to work with Danny. Shortly after arriving, with Danny playing happily on his new computer in Daniel's office, the archeologist went to the infirmary.

"Hello, Daniel," Janet greeted.

"Hey." Daniel fidgeted a little. "Um . . . I, uh, need to talk to you about something. It's . . . kind of personal."

Janet was puzzled by his demeanor. "Okay. Do you want to go into my office?"

Getting a nod from the archeologist, Janet went with him to her office. He took a seat as she settled behind her desk. About twenty seconds of silence followed. Janet could tell that, whatever this was about, Daniel was feeling ill-at-ease about discussing it.

"Daniel, is there a problem?" she asked gently.

"Yes, sort of . . . maybe. I'm not certain. It's . . . it's a medical issue."

The doctor instantly became concerned. "Are you ill?"

"No, it's nothing like that. I-I need you to, uh . . . test to see if I'm . . . sterile."

Surprised, Janet just sat staring at him for several seconds. The response made Daniel feel even more uncomfortable.

Finally, Janet spoke. "Daniel, do you have reason to believe that you're infertile?"

Daniel explained about Sha're, their year of trying to have a baby. Janet asked some pointed and very embarrassing questions about how often they had sex and at what times during Sha're's cycle. She also asked about Sha're's health and family history.

"I don't think that the problem was with her," Daniel said. "She got pregnant with Apophis."

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything, Daniel. Even women who have trouble conceiving can still manage to get pregnant if the conditions are right. Many couples try for years before finally becoming pregnant. Despite a common misconception, the window in which a woman can become pregnant is pretty small. After ovulation, a woman's egg is viable for only twelve to twenty-four hours. Fortunately – or _un_fortunately, depending on how you look at it – sperm can live inside a woman's body for up to five days, meaning that if a couple has intercourse shortly before ovulation, pregnancy can still occur, but each day that those sperm have to wait for the egg lowers the odds of pregnancy, which is why one of the things doctors have couples do if they're having problems getting pregnant is to keep precise track of the woman's cycle so that they know when she's ovulating."

"So, you're saying there is a chance that it was Sha're, not me."

"Yes." Janet studied the man. "Daniel, are you asking about this because of Sam?"

"Yeah. I know that we've only just started dating, but I also know that I want to spend my life with her, that I want us to be a family. And I want children to be a part of that family, brothers and sisters for Danny. Well, _sort_ of brothers and sisters."

"Have you talked to Sam about this?"

"No. I figured that it was too soon. But I need to know, Janet. I have to know if that can even be possible for us."

"Okay, Daniel. I could do the testing myself, but I'm guessing that this is not something you want anyone else here to know about."

"Yes, that would definitely be preferred."

Janet wrote down a name and phone number on a slip of paper and handed it to Daniel. "Doctor Merrick is a specialist in fertility issues. I've had dealings with him before when one of the female civilian scientists here was having trouble getting pregnant. Just tell him I sent you. He'll be able to do the test, and it will be completely confidential. If you prefer, you can have him call me with the results instead of you."

"Yeah, that would probably be better."

Teal'c had agreed to give Danny regular "Jaffa Tai Chi" lessons, so, shortly after Daniel got back to the office, the boy went off for his first official training session. Daniel took the opportunity to call Doctor Merrick's office. As luck would have it, they'd just had a cancellation, which had opened up a spot on the schedule for that afternoon.

Saying that he needed to take care of some business, Daniel left Danny in Jack's care and headed off to the appointment shortly after lunch. His experience at the clinic was definitely one of the most embarrassing ones of his life. Doctor Merrick, a balding man in his fifties, assured him that it was quite normal for men to be uncomfortable in such a situation. He was told that they'd have the test results back tomorrow.

At two o'clock the next afternoon, Daniel left the base for a while to meet the carpet cleaners at the old house. Sam volunteered to watch Danny this time. Giving the cleaners the key and a check, he returned to work. They would lock up the house after they were finished and leave the key under the doormat.

Daniel had just gotten back to his office when Janet called.

"I just got the results back from Doctor Merrick," she told him. "Do you want me to give them to you over the phone or would you rather come here?"

"Go ahead and tell me," Daniel replied, tensing. "Danny's not here."

"You can relax, Daniel. The sample was normal. Sperm count, motility and everything else were well within the normal range for a man your age. Now, since semen samples may vary from day to day, Doctor Merrick suggested that two or three more samples be analyzed within the next three months for accurate results, but, based on this first test, I see no reason at all why you wouldn't be able to father children."

Daniel felt almost weak with relief. "Thank you, Janet. You have no idea how relieved I am."

"I'm glad that we were able to give you good news."

"Janet, ever since we talked about this yesterday, I've been thinking about what you said. Now that we know that the problem must have been with Sha're – that is if there really was a problem – I'm wondering if it's possible that Amaunet fixed her, healed whatever was preventing her from getting pregnant. We know that a symbiote can heal illnesses and injuries in their host."

"That may very well be possible."

"I guess it doesn't really matter, does it, although, if that's true, if Amaunet enabled Sha're to have something that she could never have had otherwise, then at least there was one good thing that came out of her being taken as a host. I know how much she wanted a baby, and I know how deeply she'd have suffered if she could never have one. Despite the circumstances of his creation, I know that Sha're loved her son, and . . . and I'm glad that he came to be, though I will always wish that he was my son rather than Apophis'."

* * *

The next morning, on the way to work, Daniel dropped off the key to his former landlord. He was feeling very happy, the news he'd gotten yesterday lifting a huge weight off him. When Jack dropped by late in the morning, he noticed Daniel's cheerful mood and asked about it. Glancing at Danny, the archeologist said that he'd explain later.

"Later" came that afternoon, while Danny was getting another lesson from Teal'c. Daniel was heading back up to his office after dropping the boy off and ran into Jack, who walked with him to his office.

"Okay, so, now that the munchkin's not here, what are you so pleased about?" the colonel asked.

Daniel glanced at the open doorway to see of anyone was walking by. "It's about what I told you several days ago, that possible . . . medical problem. I had it tested, and I'm okay."

Jack smiled. "I'm glad to hear that, Daniel. So, there's a chance that the world will get to see some little Daniels and Danielettes after all."

"I hope so. I haven't talked with Sam about whether or not she wants children. We're both getting close to forty, and I know that having children at Sam's age is riskier. Then there's the whole issue of her job. Obviously, if she got pregnant, she'd have to leave SG-1, at least for a while, and. . . ." Daniel's voice trailed off. "And I don't even know why I'm going into this again. We've had one date. This is generally not something discussed so soon in a couple's relationship."

"That's generally true for the average couple, Daniel. It was for me and Sara. We didn't talk about having children until after I proposed. But, with you and Carter? Daniel, the writing is already on the wall."

Daniel frowned. "I don't understand."

"There is not a doubt in my mind – nor, very likely, in the minds of Teal'c, Fraiser, Cassie and quite a few other people – that your relationship with Carter will have wedding bells in its future. It's inevitable."

"Well, I'm glad that you're so sure of that, Jack. I should imagine that you've already placed your bets in the various pools that have sprung up over my relationship with Sam."

Jack smiled. "You better believe I have, and I expect to make a tidy little sum when they're paid out."

After Jack left, Daniel called Sam's lab.

"Hello, pretty lady," he greeted. "Would you like to go out on a date with me?"

"I don't date strange men," she replied.

"I'm only a _little_ strange. I promise."

The two of them laughed.

"So, now that the moving adventure is over, I thought we should pick a day to go on our second date," Daniel said.

"That's an excellent idea. In fact, I've been thinking about that very thing."

"How does tomorrow sound? Of course, it depends on if I can find someone to watch Danny, but that shouldn't be a problem."

"Tomorrow would be great."

"If it's okay with you, I was thinking that we'd go back to Roberto's this time."

"Okay." Sam smiled. "I think I'm more prepared to handle any embarrassing looks or comments. After the stuff that's been going on here, it would be nothing."

"You've got that right. I'll let you know what I can get for a reservation."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

Daniel's next call was to Cassie. Unfortunately, the teenager had plans and couldn't babysit. The archeologist considered asking Jack, but he knew what would happen if he did. The man would get that insufferably smug smile on his face and suggest that Danny sleep over his place to "free up" the entire evening for Daniel and Sam. If Daniel took him up on the offer, there was no doubt in his mind that, the next day, Jack would be probing him with questions on how the night went. Of course, there would be one big advantage to this. If Danny stayed with Jack overnight, there would be nothing to prevent Daniel and Sam from doing what they both really wanted to do.

The archeologist pondered on it and decided that he didn't want to deal with Jack's comments and questions, at least not yet. He had a feeling that Sam wouldn't either.

So, back to the question of who to ask to babysit Danny. Teal'c? Hmm. Maybe. Janet? Even if she could, she'd probably be tired after a long day on her feet.

That's when someone else came into Daniel's mind. Dare he? He thought about it for a few minutes and then looked at his watch, checking the time. He picked up the phone again and placed the call.

"Hello," the person answered after the third ring.

"Hey, Jon."

"Daniel. What's up?"

"Well, you know how you offered to babysit Danny if I ever needed it? Is that offer still good?"

"Sure it's still good. You going out on another date with Carter?"

"Yes, I am."

"Sweet. Sooo, you want me to come over to your place . . . or will you bring him to mine?"

Daniel thought about the smug smile, comments and questions coming from a teenaged Jack O'Neill and decided that would be even worse than coming from the adult version.

"You can come over here," he replied.

"Suit yourself." Daniel heard the smile in the teen's voice.

Daniel gave him the new address. "I'll call you back when I know what time we need you here."

"Okay, I'll be waiting."

Daniel got a reservation for seven o'clock and let both Jon and Sam know.

A couple of hours later, he headed home with Danny, telling him about the date and who would be babysitting him this time. Danny was pleased about the date and was excited about who his babysitter would be.

Shortly after dinner, Danny put down the book he was reading at the table.

"Daniel, you said that, after the moving was done, you'd tell me what Jack meant when he talked about keeping some of your things when you ascended."

Damn. Daniel had really been hoping that Danny had forgotten about that. Knowing that he really had no choice but to tell Danny the story, he asked the boy to come over to the couch and sit beside him.

"You know that I was gone away for a year, but I didn't tell you why or where I was." Daniel paused, deciding on his words. "On one of our missions, we went to a planet named Kelowna. While we were there, we found out that they were doing experiments with a mineral called Naquadria."

"Is that like Naquadah? Sam told me some things about Naquadah, that it's what the Stargate is made of."

"Yes, it is, but Naquadria is a great deal more powerful and more dangerous. We discovered that the Kelownans were making a bomb with it."

"A bomb? You mean to blow things up with?"

"Yes, unfortunately. You see, the country we went to was having trouble with two other countries, and they were afraid that those other countries would attack them. They wanted the bomb to protect themselves."

Danny frowned. "War is really stupid," he stated.

"Yes, it is. I wish that everyone felt that way. While we were there, there was an . . . accident."

"Did the bomb blow up?"

"No, but it was going to. It was going out of control and would have blown up if it wasn't stopped."

"Did you stop it?"

Daniel paused for a long while. "Yes, I stopped it. If I hadn't, everyone in the city would have been killed, including me, Jack, Sam and Teal'c. It's even possible that the entire planet would have been destroyed." He looked into Danny's eyes. "Do you know what radiation is?"

The boy thought for a while. "I think I saw something on TV about it, maybe on Star Trek or someplace else. It makes you really sick."

"Yeah." Daniel took a deep breath. "When I stopped the bomb from blowing up, I was exposed to radiation, a lot of it."

Deep concern filled Danny's eyes. "You got sick?"

"Yes, very sick."

"Did you die?"

Not hiding from the boy's eyes, Daniel replied, "This is very hard to explain, Danny, and I don't know how much you'll understand. In a way, yes, I did die, but not . . . completely."

"What do you mean?"

"A few years earlier, we met an alien named Oma Desala. Her people are called the Ancients, and they don't have physical bodies. They're made of energy." Seeing the confusion on the boy's face, Daniel asked a question as a memory came to him. "Danny, did you see an episode of Star Trek where Kirk, Spock, McCoy and a woman who was sick crash landed on a planet where a man had been living alone for over a hundred years? He hadn't aged at all, and they found out that it was because there was an alien on the planet that kept him young. The alien looked like a cloud of light."

Danny nodded. "The alien loved the man. She went into the lady in the end so that they could be together."

"Yes. Before she did, that alien didn't have a body. She was made of energy. That's what Oma and her people are, pure energy. From her and from another Ancient that Sam met a couple of years later, we learned that human beings can become like them, their bodies transforming into energy. While I was dying from the radiation, Oma came to me and offered to help me become like her. It's called ascension. I was dying, and there was very little chance that I could be saved, so I said yes. At the moment that my body died, I ascended."

Danny's eyes were wide. "You became energy?"

"Yes. I was no longer human. Because of this, I couldn't stay here on Earth. I had to leave. I was ascended for a year."

"You didn't come here that whole time?"

"I did at least a few times, but I don't know how many. You see, I have no memory of that year."

"Why?"

"Well, the Ancients have rules, ones that prevent them from helping other people."

"That's a dumb rule," Danny declared with a frown.

Daniel smiled slightly. "I have to agree, although, to be fair, I don't know the reason why they made the rules. Anyway, I had a hard time following those rules, and I finally broke them in a really big way. Because of that, I was punished by the others."

"What did they do?"

"They made me human again and took away all of my memories."

"All of them? Even from when you were my age?"

"Yes, all of them. But I eventually got back all of the memories of my life before I ascended."

"So, for a whole year, you were an alien made of energy?"

"Yep."

"Wow."

Daniel smiled again. "Yes, you could say that."

"Can you ascend again? Could I ascend?"

"Well, ascension isn't easy, Danny. There are certain things that have to be done. If Oma hadn't helped, I wouldn't have ascended, and I couldn't do it again without her help. If you learned how to ascend, you could probably do it, and if Oma or one of the others helped you, you _definitely_ could, but nobody on Earth knows how to make someone ascend."

"That's okay. I wouldn't want to anyway, not if it meant that I had to leave everybody."

Daniel brushed a hand through Danny's hair with a smile. "Neither would I."

* * *

Danny had a nightmare that night. Daniel had been hoping it wouldn't happen, that he'd managed to tell the story in a way that would lessen the emotional impact of the fact that he had died. The cry of Daniel's name sent him running into the boy's bedroom. He gathered Danny into his arms.

"Shh. Wake up, Danny. It's just a nightmare."

The child awoke, clutching at him. "You died. You died and then you went away. The Ancients came and took you away forever!"

Crap. Okay, he hadn't anticipated that. "Hey. The Ancients aren't going to come and take me away, Danny."

"You promise? Do you promise you'll never ascend again and go away?"

Daniel pulled back a little and looked into his clone's eyes. "Danny, listen to me. I would never leave you on purpose. I would never _want_ to leave you, not in any way. I've already told you that I can't promise I won't die, but I would never choose to ascend and leave you, Sam and everyone else forever. I love you all too much to leave and never come back. So, I'll make you a promise. If, for some reason, I'm faced with the choice to either die or ascend again, I will ascend, but I will come back. I don't know how long it might take me to come back, but I swear that I will. Do you believe me?"

Danny's wide, bright blue eyes gazed deep into his. "Yes, I believe you." 


	27. Chapter 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

General Hammond invited Danny to have lunch with him the next day, so SG-1 ate their meal without the boy. Daniel mostly just poked at his food, deep in thought.

"What's wrong, Daniel?" Sam finally asked.

The archeologist put his fork down. "I told Danny about my ascension last night."

His teammates were silent for a few seconds.

"How did he take it?" Jack asked.

"He was upset that I got sick and died, but he thought the part about ascension itself was pretty cool. I didn't even try explaining the whole thing about other planes of existence. I had thought that he took everything pretty well, but I guess I was wrong. He had a nightmare. He dreamed that I died and the Ancients took me away forever."

"Crap."

"He begged me to promise him that I would never ascend and go away again. I didn't anticipate that he'd react like that. It's been days since he had a nightmare. He's had little bad moments here and there, but, all in all, he's been doing great. But this made me realize that any little thing can set him off again. I just hope that this nightmare was the only one, an isolated incident."

"He just needs a little more time to heal, Daniel," Sam said gently.

Jack watched Daniel stare at his plate of food. "Daniel, I need to say something, and I want you to hear me out."

The archeologist lifted his gaze to Jack.

"Fraiser and I were talking a few weeks ago, after your accident and Danny had that nightmare. We agreed that it might help him if he got some therapy from a child psychologist. Now, I know what you think about the psychiatric profession, but those child psychologists can do a lot of good for traumatized children."

"Jack, I don't have a problem with the psychiatric profession. I know that some psychologists and psychiatrists are good people who really help their patients. What I have a problem with is when I'm the one on the couch, so to speak. I will never feel at ease being under the scrutiny of or even just being questioned by a psychiatrist, not after what happened with MacKenzie. But, as for Danny, if you can give a child psychologist clearance to know all about him, who and what he is, I will let him get some therapy."

"Okay, then. Fraiser mentioned that they found somebody they think will be perfect. We'd have mentioned it sooner, but it's just been one thing after another. All that has to be done is for the person to be given clearance and told the whole story. I'll let Fraiser and Hammond know that they can move forward. It'll be fine, Daniel. You'll see."

After lunch, Sam walked with Daniel as he headed back to his office.

"Do you want to postpone our date tonight?" she asked. "I'd understand if you wanted to stay with Danny."

"I don't know. I'll ask him. I know that he was looking forward to spending time with his babysitter."

"Who did you get? Cassie again?"

"No, she had other plans. I got Jon."

Surprised, Sam stared at him. "Jon? As in the colonel's clone?"

"Yep. He told me that he'd watch Danny if I ever needed a babysitter. I decided to take him up on it."

Sam smiled. "That should be interesting. I almost wish I could see that."

"Yeah." Daniel also smiled. "I just hope Jon doesn't corrupt him."

When the archeologist asked Danny if he'd rather have Daniel stay home that night, the boy immediately said no, that he wanted Daniel to go on the date with Sam.

At 6:30, Jon arrived, having taken a cab to get there. Daniel stayed a few minutes longer, talking with the teenager, then he left to go pick Sam up. When her door opened and he saw her, his breath whooshed out of his lungs. The dress was red. It clung to her body like it was glued on, showing off every curve. The halter top plunged sensually, revealing just the right amount of cleavage. The hem ended three inches above her knees, showing off a tantalizing bit of thigh.

"Holy. . . ." Daniel pulled in a deep breath. "Sam, are you trying to kill me?"

Sam smiled, blushing just a little. The look that had been in Daniel's eyes when he first saw her made her skin feel like it was burning. And he was still staring at her. Maybe she had gone too far with this dress. When a woman wore a dress like this on a date, it usually meant just one thing. Sam could not deny that she wanted that thing, and she knew that Daniel wanted it, too, but were they ready for that step? This would be just their second date.

"Let me get my wrap," she said.

As she turned away, Daniel saw that the dress was cut low in the back. He wanted to run his fingertips down that bare skin, to kiss the entire length of her neck and all the way down her spine. The dress was an open invitation for more than just a date, and he desperately wanted to accept that invitation.

They were welcomed warmly at Roberto's. Daniel and Sam had to wonder how many on the staff knew about them. Fortunately, everyone was too polite to say anything about that previous dinner.

The couple's conversation before and during dinner was quieter than their first date. Daniel talked about Sha're, his life with her and the Abydonians. Sam told him about Jonas Hanson. They touched each other several times, sometimes in comfort, other times just because they wanted to. They left the restaurant holding hands.

It still being fairly early, they decided to catch a movie. They chose a romantic comedy to lighten the mood. They watched it with Daniel's arm over Sam's shoulders, his fingers occasionally caressing her skin. Each time that he did, it sent a shiver through Sam.

As they left the theater, they talked about some of the scenes, how they did and did not agree with the actions of the leading man and woman. They came to a stop beside Daniel's car.

"Thank you for another great date, Sam," Daniel said. "I really enjoyed it."

"So did I."

"Well, I . . . I guess we should get home. It's getting kind of late."

"Yeah."

They got in the car and left the parking lot. As they were pulling up to a corner, Daniel reached for the turn signal, preparing to turn left, the way they needed to go to get to Sam's house. Her hand on his arm stopped him.

"Don't," she said.

Daniel looked at her. "Sam?"

"Go straight."

Daniel's heart skipped a beat. If they went straight, they'd be heading toward _his_ house. Did this mean what he thought it did?

Pulling away from the stop sign, Daniel went straight. A few minutes later, they were pulling into the driveway of his house. There was a long silence after the engine was shut off.

"Sam. . . ." Daniel began.

"Come on. I want to say hi to Jon, see if he and Danny left the place in one piece."

Not saying anything in reply, Daniel followed her to the door. Going inside, they saw that all the furniture and appliances seemed to be in the same condition they were in when Daniel left. The kitchen, however, appeared to have been turned into a crayon art gallery, with pictures taped up everywhere.

Jon was on the couch, watching TV. He stood up when they came in.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "Wow, Carter. That is some dress! My teenage hormones are raging here."

Sam blushed.

"I see that you two didn't tear up the place," Daniel observed. "But what's with the art gallery in the kitchen?"

"Oh, we were just having some fun, that's all. Daniel, I'll be happy to babysit Danny any time you want. He's quite the kid. We had lots of fun." He smiled. "And speaking of having fun, I'll just get going now." He gave them a meaningful look, which Daniel chose to ignore.

"Do you want me to drive you home?" the archeologist asked.

"Nope. I called a cab when I saw you guys pull in. It should be here soon. I'll wait for it outside." He walked past them. "Have a good night, you two." He was out the door before either Daniel or Sam could say anything.

His throat suddenly feeling dry, Daniel went into the kitchen. It was necessary to remove several pictures to get in the cupboard with the glasses.

"Would you like some water or something?" he asked.

"Yes, please."

Daniel poured two glasses, handing one to Sam. They both looked around at the artwork.

Sam smiled. She pointed at one. "Daniel, look at that one."

Daniel stared at it. Could that be. . . . "Is that the Ancient Repository of Knowledge?"

"I think so."

The picture was apparently of Jack's head being swallowed by an Ancient repository – with teeth.

Daniel laughed and looked around some more. "There," he said, pointing at another. It showed a very, very old man with a young woman beside him. The man was staring down at the ground, where a few teeth lay, apparently just having fallen out of his nearly toothless mouth. There was a speech bubble above him that said, "Oh, fer crying' out loud! Where's that dang Denture Cream?"

"Argos!" Daniel and Sam shouted at the same time, then laughed.

The next one they found was clearly an image of the Nox, only with hugely exaggerated hair, complete with a few trees sprouting out of it. There were animals living within their hair, birds flittering above. Jack, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c were all standing together, staring at the aliens.

"Jack, we have to protect them," Daniel was saying in the picture. "Those ecosystems must be preserved for future generations."

Daniel and Sam burst into laughter again.

The next one they spotted was obviously of SG-1's robot doubles. The robot of Jack was saying, "We're better, stronger, faster!" The human Jack was standing by a wall, having just unplugged a power cord that led to Robot Jack. "Hope the Duracells are all charged up," he was saying with an evil smile. The picture brought on more laughter.

Still another one showed a dog sitting on the ground, its held forlornly in its paws. Sitting beside the dog was Jack, who appeared to be scratching behind his ear with his foot. "I just _knew_ Ma'chello was going to get even," the dog was saying. Jack was saying, "Woof!" Daniel was standing off to the side. "Cheer up, Jack. You've always said that dogs are your favorite people."

"These are really funny," Sam said, laughing.

"Yes, they are. It's too bad they're all pictures of things that are classified. He could get a job drawing comics."

"If I didn't know that the colonel would shoot us, I'd take them to the SGC and post them on the bulletin board."

"We have to keep these. I can torture Jack with some of them."

They began gathering up the pictures, separating out the ones that were recognizable as scenes from SG-1's adventures. Daniel and Sam kept laughing and giggling. One in particular nearly put Sam on the floor. It showed Jack talking to an ascended Daniel, who was glaring at him, arms crossed. In the background was Jonas, who was running around frantically, the seat of his pants on fire. Jack was saying, "Well, how was I to know that you wanted me to save your spot on the team? You never call. You never write."

"I know I shouldn't laugh," Sam gasped. "Poor Jonas. But it's just too funny."

Just then, Daniel found another one. "Uh, take a look at this one," he said, handing it to Sam. The picture showed Daniel lying on the floor, unconscious. Sam was kneeling beside him, her mouth sealed over his. Teal'c and Jack were observing. "Major Carter seemed most eager to be the one to perform rescue breathing on Daniel Jackson," Teal'c was saying. "I've never seen rescue breathing done with tongue," was Jack's comment.

"I really hope he did that one after Danny went to bed," Daniel said. "If he didn't, you can bet that he left the explanation of the tongue remark up to me."

Sam smiled. "I'm afraid that your fear of Jon corrupting Danny may prove to be well-founded."

They kept looking at the drawing for a few seconds longer, then their eyes met. In a single move, Daniel tossed the drawing on the table, pulled Sam into his arms and covered her mouth with his. The kiss instantly ignited into a raging fire. Moaning, their hands slid over each other's bodies touching, stroking and pulling at clothing. Daniel's tie landed on the table.

With an unspoken agreement, they moved out of the dining room, never letting go of each other. They were heading for Daniel's bedroom, but ended up on the couch instead, Sam straddling Daniel's lap. His hands went to her breasts, his mouth on her throat. Grasping his shoulders, Sam threw her head back, rocking her hips against his. Daniel's hands moved down to the bare skin of her thighs and began pushing her dress up, his hands coming to rest on her buttocks, wrenching a moan from deep in her throat.

Daniel was getting ready to pull Sam's dress over her head when he froze, having heard something. And then they both heard something.

"Daniel?"

Danny's little voice had Daniel and Sam moving so fast that even Bra'tac would have been impressed by their speed. In five seconds flat, Sam was off Daniel's lap, her dress was back in place, and her hair smoothed back. Daniel's clothing had been straightened, and he'd grabbed a tissue to wipe any possible traces of lipstick off his mouth.

Danny came into the living room, rubbing sleepy eyes.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" Daniel asked, managing to sound normal despite the fact that he was rather out of breath.

"I had a nightmare, and then I heard a noise."

"What kind of noise?"

"Kind of a moan."

Daniel and Sam blushed brightly, knowing what moan he had heard.

"Uhhhh, you were probably just still dreaming," Daniel said. "Can you tell me about the nightmare?"

"The Ancients came. They said that you had to ascend and go with them or you'd die."

Daniel sighed. He patted the cushion beside him. The boy sat down.

"Danny, there's something I should discuss with you. Do you know what psychiatrists and psychologists are?"

Danny nodded. "Dad said that Nick should go to one because of the things he said about the crystal skull."

"Oh. Yes, I remember that. Okay, there is a type of psychologist that treats children, helping kids who have experienced something terrible and are having problems because of it, like what happened with you because of the memories of seeing Mom and Dad die."

"You mean like the nightmares?"

"Yes. I'd like you to see one, Danny. I think it will help with the nightmares and other things."

"Did you see one when Mom and Dad died?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid it didn't do me much good. She got there too late to really get through to me."

"Would you be there when I'm with the psychologist?"

"Would you like me to be there?"

Danny nodded.

"Then I will be."

"And maybe you can talk to them about what happened to Mom and Dad, too, so that you'll feel better."

"It wouldn't be their job to treat me, Danny. They'd be there for you. Besides, I'm not a child anymore."

"I know, but you're still sad about Mom and Dad's death."

Daniel met Sam's eyes for a fleeting moment, seeing sorrow and understanding there.

"We can talk about this later, Danny," he said. "You should go back to bed."

Sam stood up and held her hand out to the boy. "Come on. I'll tell you a funny story."

Daniel remained on the couch, his head lying on the backrest. He listened to the sound of Sam telling Danny about one of the funnier things that happened to SG-1 on a mission. About fifteen minutes later, she came back out and sat beside the archeologist.

"He does have a point, you know," she said after a moment.

"You mean about my unresolved issues concerning my parents' deaths? It's been thirty years, Sam. I learned to live with and accept it a long time ago." He met her eyes, and he knew that she was thinking about that moment he cried in her arms. His gaze fell from hers. "Danny's the one who needs the help. He's the one we need to focus on."

Sam decided not to push the issue, though she believed that it would do Daniel a lot of good to talk to a professional about his parents.

Daniel smiled. "Well, this evening didn't turn out quite the way I was hoping it would when you asked to come home with me."

Sam also smiled. "I guess we got a taste of what it can be like for parents."

Daniel looked at Sam. "You're still welcome to stay the night. There is a guest room."

"That probably wouldn't be a good idea. The temptation would be too great."

Daniel's gaze intensified. "Yeah." His wilder side was telling him to take her into his bedroom. His cautious side was saying that Danny could wake up again, and, next time, they wouldn't be able to make themselves presentable in a matter of seconds.

"I'll call a taxi," Sam said, hiding the regret from her voice.

She placed the call. After hanging up the phone, she looked at Daniel. Having no need for words, they went into each other's arms. As they waited, Daniel held Sam close, running his hand up and down her arm. Her head was on his shoulder.

Daniel's hand slid down to hers. He entwined his fingers with hers and gazed at their joined hands for a long moment. His love for her swelled inside his chest.

"Sam," he said, his voice very quiet. "Maybe it's too soon for me to say this, but I . . . I want you to know." He tilted her face up, meeting her eyes. "I love you, Sam, with all my heart."

Sam drew in a sharp breath. Then her face brightened. "I love you, too, Daniel."

A smile touched Daniel's face. "You do?"

"Yes, very much."

Their lips met in a long, slow kiss that seemed to last for hours, but was really only half a minute or so. They smiled into each other's eyes.

"I keep thinking about that song from the night club," Daniel said. "All these years, I've been looking at you, and I never saw what was right in front of my eyes, that the kind of love I thought I'd never find again after Sha're died was with me all this time."

"I feel the same way, Daniel. After I put aside the feelings I had for you during those first few months, I really did just look at you as a friend. More than once in my life, I thought that I'd found love, but I think that, deep inside, my heart always knew that there was something missing." She gazed at Daniel. "And there you were for all these years, the missing piece."

Their lips came together again. A honk outside ended the kiss.

They stood up, and Sam retrieved her wrap from the dining room. Daniel walked with her out to the waiting taxi and opened the door for her. He bent down and gave her a parting kiss after she'd gotten in.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

Daniel stood on the curb and watched the taxi disappear into the night, then he went back into the house. Though he and Sam had not made love tonight as he'd hoped they would, to him, it didn't matter. Tonight, Sam had spoken three words that filled him with more joy than he had ever known.

With a smile on his face, Daniel got ready for bed. He fell asleep thinking of the woman he loved.

* * *

The next morning, after dropping Danny off at his office, Daniel went to Sam's lab. Pulling her to a corner of the room that the camera couldn't see, he gave her a slow, deep kiss.

"I love you," he murmured against her lips.

"I love you, too," Sam said back to him.

Daniel smiled. "So, about that third date."

Any reply Sam may have given was interrupted by the announcement of an unscheduled off-world activation. They went to the control room and learned that a man who claimed to be a rebel Jaffa was requesting that Teal'c and the rest of SG-1 meet him. He said that his name was Ryk'l and that he had important information regarding the Jaffa in the service of the Goa'uld Moloc.

Jack and Teal'c had also come to the control room. The colonel turned to the Jaffa.

"Do you know this guy?"

"I do not. However, others have said that many of Moloc's Jaffa wish to be free. Bra'tac has sought to speak with them, but he has been unsuccessful so far. If this Ryk'l speaks the truth, this may afford us the opportunity to aid them."

"And it could also be an attempt to set a trap to grab you and the rest of us." Jack turned to Hammond. "Sir, I suggest that we tell him to call back. That'll give us the opportunity to decide what we're going to do."

Hammond nodded and told the technician to turn the microphone back on. He told Ryk'l to dial them again in one hour.

Daniel requested that someone go to his office to check on Danny and tell him that Daniel was going to be gone for a while longer. Once that was done, SG-1 and Hammond went to the briefing room. Teal'c began by explaining what he had heard about Moloc's Jaffa.

Daniel then told them what he knew. "Moloch, also called Molech, was the sun god of the Canaanites in old Palestine. He was sometimes associated with Ba'al. Unlike many other gods in mythology, who are portrayed as having both good and evil qualities, Moloch is shown as utterly evil. In the eighth through sixth century B.C.E., firstborn children were sacrificed to him by the Israelites to renew the strength of the sun's fire."

"Teal'c, what is your recommendation about meeting with this Ryk'l?" Hammond asked.

"Though, as O'Neill said, there is a chance that this is a trap, I believe that it is worth the risk. If we can turn many of Moloc's Jaffa against him, it would be a great victory."

"It might be a good idea if we have another team with us, sir," Jack suggested.

"It may be that, if we do not come alone, Ryk'l will not show himself," Teal'c responded. "He is taking a great risk in contacting us. The planet that he is on is in Moloc's domain and most likely has many Jaffa who are loyal to him."

Hammond pondered on the situation. "All right, you have a go. I will not send another team with you, but I want you to check in within an hour. If we don't hear from you in an hour and a half, I will send through two other teams. We'll find out from Ryk'l when he contacts us again when he can meet with you."

"Yes, sir," Jack said.

The briefing over, Daniel went to his office. He told Danny that he would be going on a mission soon.

"We shouldn't be gone more than a few hours," he explained, "but, just in case we do have to stay overnight, I'll make arrangements for you to stay with someone."

"Is it a dangerous mission?" Danny asked.

"I don't know. It could be. Almost every mission we go on carries some risk, especially if it has something to do with the Goa'uld, like this one does. We'll be as careful as we can be, Danny."

When Ryk'l contacted them again, he said that he'd meet with them tomorrow morning. The meeting place was about a twenty-minute walk from the Stargate.

Daniel talked with Janet, and she said that she could watch Danny tomorrow night, if it was necessary. The arrangements made, Daniel got busy on learning more about the god Moloch in mythology.

At 0800 the next morning, the gate on P3X-955 was dialed. Danny was in the gate room, saying goodbye to Daniel and the others.

"Be safe," he told them.

"Hey, don't worry, Danny," Jack said, ruffling his hair. "We do this kind of thing all the time, and we've always managed to come back. Sometimes, we were a bit worse for wear, but we came back."

The wormhole was established. With a goodbye to Danny, SG-1 stepped through the gate.

They did end up meeting Ryk'l at the arranged spot, but things did not go exactly as they had hoped. Only moments after meeting Ryk'l, they were all attacked by a party of Jaffa. Ryk'l was killed.

An intense firefight was going on between SG-1 and the Jaffa when, all of a sudden, someone else began firing upon the Jaffa, who were all brought down in a matter of seconds. SG-1 received a surprise when their rescuers revealed themselves to be a group of female Jaffa. SG-1 was asked to come with them. The appearance of a glider made it clear that things were going to get hot very soon, if they didn't leave. A dark-skinned woman who appeared to be leading the group confirmed that the Stargate would not remain accessible for long, and they needed to hurry.

Everyone's surprise at the turn of events turned to shock when a female Jaffa with short reddish-brown hair knelt beside a male Jaffa felled in the battle. As SG-1 looked on, stunned, she removed the larva from the man's symbiote pouch and put it in a metal jar, then sealed the jar.

"What is she doing?" Daniel asked.

"There is no time to explain here," the leader said, "please come with us."

The woman who had removed the larva apparently objected to this, exclaiming in Goa'uld. The dark-skinned one answered back in the same language, and the two argued for a bit.

"Hey, what's going on?" Jack asked.

Teal'c gestured at the leader. "This one believes we should return to her planet," he indicated the other woman. "That one believes it would not be wise."

The dark-skinned woman turned to SG-1. "Please. We knew you would be here."

"How?" Teal'c asked, suspicious of these women, as well as angry about the larva being taken.

"Our intelligence network runs deep within the Jaffa of Moloc. We came to ask for help. I promise you will be safe."

"Well, they did save us," Daniel pointed out.

Hoping they were making the right decision, SG-1 decided to go with them. 


	28. Chapter 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

On the way to the Stargate, SG-1 learned that the dark-skinned woman was named Mala and that the one with the reddish-brown hair was Neith.

They managed to make it to the Stargate before other enemy Jaffa arrived. They were met on the other side of the wormhole by five more female Jaffa, two on horseback.

"Welcome to Hak'tyl," Mala said.

"Independence?" Daniel asked Teal'c.

"Liberation," he corrected.

"Our dwellings are this way," Mala said, gesturing. "Please."

"Ah, y'know, we really should call home first," Jack told her, "let the folks know where we are. It's past our curfew."

"By all means."

Jack nodded to Sam. She dialed the SGC. They were several minutes past their scheduled check-in time, and Hammond said that he'd been concerned. Sam briefly explained what happened and gave the general the address of the planet they were on.

While this was going on, there was another tense discussion between Mala and Neith. Mala revealed to Neith that getting SG-1 had been their mission, and Neith wanted to know why she hadn't been told. Mala said it was because they knew she wouldn't agree. Mala told the woman to go tell someone named Ishta of the success of their mission. Neith mounted one of the horses, sitting behind the rider, and rode off in the direction Mala had indicated was the way their home lay.

After the gate shut down, the party began the trek to their destination.

"So, Teal'c, who are they?" Jack asked.

"My knowledge of the Goa'uld Moloc is limited," Teal'c replied. "However, I am unaware of any Goa'uld that would permit his women Jaffa to be warriors."

"They seem to be well trained," Daniel remarked.

"All females receive training. They are expected to defend their homeworld with their lives if their men are called to battle."

"I can't help but think of the ancient Greek Amazon mythos."

"Yes. Me too," Jack said.

"They were, um, female warriors who occasionally captured men from other tribes in order to mate with them."

Daniel didn't notice the glance Sam, who was ahead of them, gave him over her shoulder.

"Would often, um, would sometimes remove their right breasts so they could more easily fire a bow and arrow," he continued.

"I see neither bow nor arrow," Jack observed.

"No."

Jack had a thought. "Wait. You don't suppose that's why they want us, do you? You know, the three of us."

This time, it was Jack who was subjected to a look from Sam.

Daniel looked at him. "To, um, to mate with? No, no, I don't think so." Silently, he added, _'Boy, I sure **hope** not,'_

"Cus you know me. I'm all for helping people."

"Oh, God," Sam laughed.

Jack looked at her, then at Daniel. "Of course, if they try that with _you_, Carter will probably kill them with her bare hands."

That statement made Daniel blush and ended Sam's amusement. She glanced at the archeologist, then faced forward again.

When they reached the encampment, they noticed that everyone there was female. There were children of various ages running around, which made Jack begin to wonder if his comment about these female Jaffa was right.

SG-1 noticed that some of the young children ran away from them, while all of the adults eyed them with mistrust.

"You must forgive them," Mala said. "For many of the young this is the first time they have seen men."

They met with a woman named Ishta, who was the leader of the female Jaffa. She appeared to have a great deal of respect for Teal'c and said that she asked SG-1 to come there to form an alliance. Jack was all for talking about it, but Teal'c was not.

"No alliance can be formed between the Tau'ri and those who would steal symbiotes from their brother and leave him to die," he stated, a touch of anger in his voice.

"He was no brother of mine," Neith spat. "Just a murderer of innocent children!"

"Shal kree!" Ishta chastised.

Neith folded her arms belligerently, but said nothing else.

Ishta returned her gaze to SG-1. "There is much to discuss." She gestured at a girl, who came up to stand beside her, head bowed.

"This is Synak. This morning, she lay on her deathbed. She reached the age of Prata three days ago."

"Hmm?" Jack said questioningly.

"Puberty," Daniel translated.

"Ah."

"Without the symbiote we procured this morning, she would be dead now," Ishta told them. She gestured at another girl, who came to stand on her other side. "This is Nesa, younger sister to Neith. She is next to reach the age. Without a symbiote, she will die."

There was a long pause as this information penetrated the minds of SG-1.

"As will all our children," Ishta concluded. She gazed at all of them. "Do you understand now?"

"We understand why you took the symbiote," Daniel replied. He could certainly understand why these women would go so far to save their children. "But why are you here?" He waved his hands about at the settlement. "Why all this?"

"There is much that you do not know. We will explain what is happening." Ishta turned to Sam. "Please join me in my tent."

"Whoa. Hold on there," Jack said in objection.

"You will remain here," Ishta told him firmly. She turned and headed back to her tent, followed by Mala and Neith. Sam gave Jack a glance and a little shrug, then went with them.

Within the tent, everyone took seats.

"Thirty years ago, Moloc decreed that only male children would be allowed to live," Ishta began. "Only they could strengthen his armies and lead him to victory in the war of the gods."

"Well, aside from the obvious immorality, that doesn't make sense. How do you sustain a population of any gender without women?"

"The Jaffa life span is longer than humans. This could go on for a hundred years. Any female child is to be sacrificed in the ceremony of fire immediately after they're born."

Horror filled Sam. "They're burned to death?"

"Yes."

* * *

Outside, Daniel, Jack and Teal'c waited for Sam.

"Well, this is . . . odd," Jack remarked in complaint. As team leader, he wasn't accustomed to being deliberately kept out of a discussion with possible allies.

"Maybe they just feel more comfortable talking to Sam," Daniel said.

"Why? Because we have penises?"

Daniel coughed in embarrassment. He held out the power bar he'd just opened. "Power bar?"

"Yeah, thanks." Jack took the bar.

It was several minutes later when Sam came out of the tent. She and her teammates went to the edge of the camp, near a small body of water. Sam recounted what she'd learned.

"My God. He's doing it again," Daniel murmured after she told them about the sacrifices. "Remember when I told you that, according to mythology, the worshippers of Moloch sacrificed their firstborn children? Well, I didn't tell you how. The children were placed on the hands of the idol of Moloch, which was a huge bronze statue with the head of a bull. The hands lifted the children to the statue's mouth, as if Moloch was eating them, and they'd fall into the fire that was burning before the statue." Daniel paused. "People would gather before the statue and dance to the sounds of flutes and tambourines to drown out the screams of the sacrificed children."

Sam felt even sicker than she had when she found out what Moloc was doing to the newborn female Jaffa. She thought of someone doing something like that to Danny, and it made her heart clench painfully.

Daniel was having the same thoughts. As an archeologist, he knew all about the barbaric practices of some ancient cultures and religions, but, now that he was a parent, the idea of any people sacrificing their own children sickened him even more than it did before. And, now, Moloc was doing it again. How many innocent babies had died at his command these past thirty years?

Sam told them the rest of what she had learned. Ishta was a temple high priestess. Part of her duty was to keep a record of births and to preside over the sacrifices. Mala and Neith were her seconds. The three of them were allowed relatively free access to the Stargates of the worlds under Moloc's rule, which was how they'd managed to save many of the children destined to be sacrificed. No one outside the camp knew that this was being done.

"What about the parents?" Daniel asked.

"According to Ishta, all but a few of Moloc's Jaffa are completely loyal to him," Sam replied. "Not even the parents can be trusted. The babies have to be taken secretly. And even questioning Moloc's rule is punishable by death."

"So, what do they want from us?" Jack asked. "To help them bring Moloc down?"

"That's what I thought, but Ishta was surprised that I even suggested it. I guess they didn't realize that we were in a position to even hope to do that. What they want are food, supplies and weapons to help them continue what they're doing."

"Stealing the symbiotes from their fellow Jaffa," Teal'c said disapprovingly.

"Actually, I offered them an alternative."

"Tretonin?" Daniel guessed.

"We've had success with it so far," Sam said.

"On all two test subjects," Jack stated with a touch of sarcasm.

"It hasn't been easy. Jaffa won't willingly give up their symbiotes, despite the fact it could ultimately free them."

"Jaffa believe they will be weaker without them," Teal'c explained.

Daniel recalled when Teal'c himself believed that he was weaker because he no longer carried a symbiote. It had all been in his head, and it was the same with the other Jaffa. "That's centuries of Goa'uld brainwashing," he said.

"Will these women do it?" Jack asked.

"They're thinking about it," Sam replied. "They've suffered some horrible atrocities at the hands of the Jaffa who serve Moloc. It's easy to see why they don't have a problem killing a few of them to survive."

"A Jaffa is taught it is more noble to die than to kill another," Teal'c stated.

"Teal'c, these children have been genetically altered to depend on symbiotes and then had all access to them taken away. Their guardians believe that this is the only way for them to survive."

Teal'c frowned. "Then they will have to see that there is another way." He strode away.

"Give them the old Teal'c charm!" Jack called after him.

"Sir, what are we going to do if they turn down the offer of Tretonin?" Sam asked.

"That isn't up to me, Carter. A lot of people are going to look at this from the viewpoint that Ishta and her band are weakening Moloc's power by killing his Jaffa. And they could be valuable allies."

Sam looked at Daniel, whose gaze was focused in the ground. "Daniel? What do you think?"

"I doubt that what I think would make any difference to how this turns out, but I can't help thinking about what I'd do if it was Danny who was in the same position as those children in the camp. If I had to kill someone to save his life, I know that I would. I think that most parents would do the same. Yet to deliberately go out and slaughter others again and again. . . ." He shook his head. "What they're doing is wrong, even if they do have a good reason."

"Well, let's just hope that they decide to try the Tretonin," Sam said.

A while later, Daniel, Jack and Sam saw Ishta striding through the camp, looking angry. She went straight into her tent.

Teal'c appeared just a few seconds later.

"What happened?" Jack asked him.

"Things did not go well, O'Neill. I attempted to convince Ishta that using Tretonin was the correct thing to do. I told her that as long as the Jaffa require symbiotes, we will continue to be enslaved by the Goa'uld and that the symbiotes we carry are not a Jaffa's true strength."

"She didn't want to listen to you?" Daniel inquired.

"She did listen, but there was some contention between us."

"Some contention?" Jack repeated. "And was it this contention that gave you that little souvenir on your cheek?"

Teal'c touched the small cut. "Ishta wished to demonstrate her skills in battle."

"Uh huh."

"As we fought, she sensed that I did not carry a symbiote. Because I had not told her that I was taking Tretonin, she claimed that my actions betrayed my words. She left before I could speak with her further."

"And was she right?" Jack asked. "You did go through that time when you thought not having a symbiote made you weak."

"I was mistaken, O'Neill," Teal'c stated firmly. "On Erebus, I learned that a Jaffa's strength is within himself, within his own heart, mind and body, not within the symbiote he carries. I did not tell Ishta immediately that I carried no symbiote because I sought first to show her that I am still the same Jaffa I have always been."

"You didn't want her looking at you and perceiving weakness that wasn't there," Daniel guessed.

"Indeed. When I believed that the time was right, I would have told her, showing myself to be living proof of my claims."

"So, what do you think she'll do?" Sam asked.

"This I do not know."

Ishta came out of her tent about an hour later. Standing on the steps, she called out to everyone. All of the Hak'tyl, as well as SG-1, gathered before her.

"My sisters," Ishta began, "Teal'c has brought news that may save us all. The Tau'ri have a drug called Tretonin that enables a Jaffa to live without a symbiote."

There were murmurs of surprise among those assembled.

"No longer will we need to lose our sisters in battle. No longer will our daughters be dependent on symbiotes. Teal'c has taken the drug. He stands here before you as evidence. I am asking for four volunteers to travel with me to the Tau'ri to test its effectiveness."

The Hak'tyl all began looking at each other. Nobody volunteered.

"Is that a pin dropping?" Jack remarked.

"You must not go," Mala said to Ishta, stepping forward.

"Mala, I have made my decision."

"Hak'tyl needs you. You are our leader. I will go in your stead. It is my right as Kindra. You cannot say no."

Ishta came down the steps and stood before Mala.

"You are brave and true," she said.

One of the other Jaffa spoke up. "I, too, will go." She and two other women stepped forward to join Mala. Ishta smiled faintly, then looked over at Neith, who was with her sister, Nesa. Neith's eyes dropped to the ground. Ishta came up to them.

"Nesa is of the age," she said.

"She is a child," Neith objected.

"I am told it is not without risk, but if there is one among us—"

"Never!" Neith interrupted angrily. "That you would even consider this is an affront to all of us."

"Your words are disrespectful," Ishta said, remaining calm.

With a glare at SG-1, Neith stormed away, taking Nesa with her. The girl glanced back at them once.

Ishta turned back to everyone else. "I cannot force her hand." She stepped over to Mala. "I wish you well."

As the four volunteers prepared for departure, Ishta spoke with Teal'c, asking to be told more about the Jaffa rebellion. He decided to remain on Hak'tyl to talk with her.

"One of us should stay, too," Sam said to Daniel and Jack. "Ishta is going to want periodic updates on the Tretonin treatments. We could send the updates through the MALP."

"And it might be a good idea for me or Jack to stay for another reason," Daniel said. He looked about. "I get the impression that a lot of these women still don't trust men, and having one of us around might help."

Sam nodded. "That might be a good idea."

"I'll stay, then," Daniel stated.

"Nah, you go back to Danny," Jack responded. "I'll stay."

"Jack, this isn't meant to be an insult, but, between the two of us, which one do you think is going to do a better job of putting these women and children at ease in the presence of men?"

Jack didn't have to think about it. Obviously, the answer was Daniel. He had that gentle, non-threatening air about him that had, more than once, put people they met on missions at ease.

"Okay, so you're right about that," Jack admitted.

"Can you watch Danny for me? I'm sure that Janet's going to be pretty busy."

"Sure, no problem. It'll give us more time to hang out."

Daniel, Teal'c, Ishta, and Neith accompanied Sam, Jack and the four volunteers to the Stargate.

"Tell Danny that I'll be home as soon as possible, okay?" Daniel requested from Sam.

"I will. He's going to miss you, you know."

"I'll miss him, too." Daniel smiled. "I'm sure Jack will do a good job of entertaining him."

Sam took Daniel's hand for a moment, meeting his eyes. "We'll see you soon." She then dialed the gate, sent the GDO signal, and went through with Jack and the others.

Daniel, Teal'c and the two Hak'tyl women began walking back.

"This Danny you referred to is your son?" Ishta asked the archeologist.

"Um, no. I'm Danny's . . . guardian. His parents are dead."

"Yet, though he is not your child, you love him as if he is."

"Yes, I love him very much."

Ishta glanced briefly at Teal'c. "Then do you understand why we have done all that we have to save the children of my people?"

Daniel met her eyes as they kept walking. "Yes, I do. I can understand what lengths a person will go for the life of a child, even if that child is not their own. I know that, if Danny's life was at stake, there isn't much that I wouldn't be willing to do to save him. Yet I also know that there are lines that shouldn't be crossed, acts that shouldn't be committed, not even to save a child. I'm not saying that you should have let those children die when they got to the age that they needed symbiotes. I do understand your justification in getting symbiotes for them. But how many would you kill to save a single child? A hundred? A thousand?"

"I would kill a million to save my sister," Neith declared, glaring at him.

Daniel did not flinch from the look in her eyes. "Maybe you would, but would Nesa want you to? Would she think that a million lives for hers was a fair trade?"

Angrily, Neith stared at him for a moment longer, then she strode ahead.

"Neith bears deep anger and hatred for Moloc and the Jaffa who do his bidding," Ishta explained. "She has lost much. Though Nesa was saved, two other sisters were not."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I know how painful it can be to lose family. I hope that she'll come to see that using the Tretonin is the best choice for your people. With Tretonin, none of the children you care for will have to live with the knowledge that others died so that they might survive."

Ishta gazed at him intently. Though she would always believe that what they did was right, there was wisdom in this human's words that she could not deny.

"We have heard much about the Tau'ri members of SG-1," she said thoughtfully. "We have heard that O'Neill is a great leader, one skilled in the strategies of battle. We have been told that Major Carter is a brave and skilled warrior and a woman of great intelligence and learning."

Daniel smiled slightly. "I'm almost afraid to learn what you've heard about me."

"That you are a scholar, a man of great knowledge and intelligence, a man of peace who fights alongside his brethren in order to destroy the Goa'uld. I see that you are also a man of wisdom. I hear what you are saying, Daniel Jackson, yet, in my heart, I know that what we have done is what we needed to do. If your Tretonin works, then I will agree to its use, but, if it does not, I will not stop procuring symbiotes for the children in our care. I have vowed to save the lives of the children that Moloc would murder, and if that means that I must kill his warriors, then so be it."

Nothing more was said for the rest of the journey. Once they got back, Teal'c went off with Ishta, leaving Daniel on his own. He wished that he had some of his books along to read.

Finding a place to sit, Daniel decided to do some writing in his journal. He began putting down his thoughts on the Hak'tyl, his observations on how they were like and _not_ like the Amazons of Greek mythology.

Daniel had been at it for about forty minutes when he heard a childish giggle, he looked up to see two little girls around six years old staring at him. They whispered to each other and giggled some more.

"Hello," he said, smiling.

"You are a male," one of them said, a child with straight black hair.

Daniel's smile broadened. "That I am."

"We have never seen a male before," the other child told him, a girl with curly, light brown hair.

"Yes, I know. You don't have to be afraid, though. Sure, I look a bit different on the outside, but, on the inside, I'm mostly the same as girls. Well, mostly the same as _human_ girls, that is."

"We have never seen humans before either," responded the black-haired girl.

"Well, as you can see, I have two arms, two legs and one head, just like you. We're really not all that different, not nearly as different as some aliens I've seen."

The two girls came a little closer.

"What are you doing?" the curly-headed child asked.

"I'm writing in my journal. It's a book that I write my thoughts in."

"Thoughts about what?"

"Oh, the things I see and hear, the stuff that I've learned. Right now, I'm writing about your people."

"What did you say?" asked the black-haired girl.

"Lots of things, actually."

The two children came up to him the rest of the way.

"Tell us," requested the one with brown hair.

"How about if I tell you a story instead, about the Amazons, a legendary race of female warriors?"

"Like us?"

"In some ways, yes."

As the two children sat down beside him, Daniel began his story. As he spoke, gradually more children came over to listen, along with several older teenagers and even a few adults. Within half an hour, he had added quite a few people to his audience. The little girl with curly brown hair had apparently lost all fear of him and climbed up onto his lap. He occasionally brushed a hand through her soft curls, looking down into eyes that were almost as blue as Danny's.

At one point, Daniel caught sight of Neith glaring at him in the distance. He didn't let it bother him, though.

By the time he was finished with the story, everyone listening was totally immersed in the tale.

"The Amazons were great warriors," one of the adults observed, a woman Daniel knew was named Ka'lel.

Daniel had decided not to tell them that the Amazons were mythical. There were real female warriors in Earth's history, however, upon which the legend of the Amazons had most likely been based.

"The Tau'ri are not like the Jaffa," another said. "Your women fight alongside your men."

"Some of them do," Daniel responded. "Earth has a long history of women who were warriors, though there have always been far more male warriors than female ones. Not all cultures on Earth believe that women should be allowed to fight in battles. The one that I come from does, though it wasn't always that way."

"Do you look upon your women as equals?" Ka'lel asked.

"Again, that depends on where you are on Earth. We have many different cultures. In some, women are treated as equals. In others, they aren't. As time passes, more cultures are changing their viewpoints on women, coming to accept their equality, but we still have a long way to go before all women are treated as being equal to men."

"Women will never be thought of as equal by Moloc and his warriors."

Daniel wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. "Moloc is evil. For centuries, he was worshipped as a god by some of the people of Earth. During that time, he was responsible for the sacrifice of thousands of babies, both male and female. They were killed in the same way that your sisters are being killed."

"We did not know this," a third woman said. "Then your people have been made to suffer at his hands as well."

"That was thousands of years ago, before the Goa'uld left Earth. But, yes, the Tau'ri have suffered at his hands, as well as those of other Goa'uld."

Ka'lel stared at him piercingly. "And what of you personally? How do you feel about women? One of your team is female. Do you look upon her as being less than your male counterparts?"

"Absolutely not," Daniel said emphatically. "I have more respect for Sam than I could ever say. She is an amazing person in every way." He smiled. "As for her fighting skills, since she could probably lay me out flat on the ground in the blink of an eye, I'd be pretty stupid not to respect them."

The remark earned some laughs.

"Don't let Jack O'Neill know that I told you this, but there was one time during a hand-to-hand combat training workout when Sam snuck a punch in under his guard, and he went right down, pretty hard, I might add."

"Truly?" asked a girl of about sixteen.

Daniel grinned. "Oh, yes. Poor Jack's ego was bruised even more than his butt was."

That made everyone laugh.

"Are most men on your world like you?" a young woman asked, searching his face.

"In what way?"

"You are not like what many here have said about men. They say that men look upon women as lesser creatures, not worthy of respect and honor."

"What's your name?" Daniel asked gently.

"Tenat."

"Tenat, most men are not like that. I know that, with the Jaffa, the viewpoint about women can differ from the way it is among a lot of humans, but even among the Jaffa, there is respect for women, even if they do not allow women to fight in battle alongside men. I know that Teal'c has great respect for women. He holds Sam in high regard and gladly fights at her side. As for humans, we're all different. Some men are like me, other are not. Some willingly fight with women at their side, while others think that women should not be allowed to fight. Even in my own country, there are men who believe that women should stay at home, taking care of the house and children. Thankfully, that attitude is the exception rather than the rule there, but it does exist."

There was a long moment of silence as everyone absorbed Daniel's words.

"You have given us much to think about," Ka'lel finally said.

"Will you tell us another story?" the little girl on his lap asked. She was snuggled under his chin, looking up at him with her big blue eyes.

Daniel smiled down at her and caressed her cheek. "Maybe later, De'la. Right now, I need to stretch my legs a bit. You should go and play with your friends."

Much to his surprise, De'la planted a kiss on his cheek before hopping off his lap. Everyone wandered off. Daniel went in search of something to eat besides a power bar. He found some fruit in a basket and asked if he could have some. Being given permission, he took something that looked a bit like a pear and went for a walk.

* * *

Sam sat talking with Mala. They'd just begun her first treatment. Her symbiote was being kept alive in a small tank, as were those of the others.

"I noticed the way that you looked upon Daniel Jackson," Mala said. "Is he your mate?"

"Not yet. We're dating."

"Dating?" the Jaffa woman inquired in puzzlement.

"It's a form of courtship. But I already I love him very much, and I know that he loves me."

"I have often wondered if I would ever have another man to love. I was once a temple handmaiden. I fell in love with a young palace guard. Our relationship was forbidden because of our stations. When it was discovered that I was to have his child, Moloc sentenced my beloved to death and sacrificed our daughter before my eyes."

"I'm so sorry."

"That is one of the reasons why I am so determined to save the other children who would be killed."

"I understand how you must feel. I know that, if I had a daughter, I'd do anything in my power to save her."

"Who is this Danny about whom Daniel Jackson spoke?"

"Um, that's a bit complicated. I'll just say that he is a little boy Daniel is the guardian for. He is very special, and we all love him dearly."

"If you and Daniel Jackson marry, you will be Danny's mother?"

"In a way, I guess." Sam smiled. "It's a nice thought."

"You are fortunate to have that chance." 


	29. Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Daniel spent the next day going for walks and wandering around the camp since he really didn't have anything else to do. Occasionally, he'd speak with someone. Most of the Hak'tyl were used to his presence now and no longer looked at him warily. Some were actually quite friendly to him and asked some questions about Earth and the battles they'd fought against the Goa'uld. The women were impressed upon hearing the list of Goa'uld that the SG-1 had a hand in killing.

Though he hadn't intended it, the subject of Sha're came up. The women he was speaking with at the time expressed their condolences over her death. He didn't let them know that it was Teal'c who killed her.

That afternoon, the archeologist noticed Neith's sister, Nesa, sit down on a log. She looked tired. He approached her.

"You okay?"

She looked up at him. "My sister says I should not talk to you."

Daniel sat beside her. "You don't have to. I'll just sit here for a while." He didn't say anything for several seconds, looking at her profile for a moment. Facing forward again, he said, "I'm Daniel." Nesa looked at him. He glanced at her casually, then returned his gaze to the camp. "I wasn't talking to you."

"Who were you talking to, then?"

"No one," Daniel claimed. There was another pause. "So, how are you?"

Nesa sighed wearily. "I feel tired."

Daniel looked at her with a feigned expression of puzzlement. "Who're you talking to?"

"No one."

Daniel nodded, turning away. Nesa smiled. This man was like no one she'd ever met. He seemed very nice.

She was curious about his glasses and asked about them. Daniel explained their purpose. She suggested that perhaps he was in need of a symbiote, to which he replied that he'd stick with the glasses.

"Neith has told me that your people don't approve of our use of symbiotes for healing," Nesa said.

"Well, it's a little more complicated than that," Daniel responded. "I just think there's a better way."

"Neith does not want me to participate in your experiments."

"I know."

"Soon, I will require a symbiote."

Daniel searched her face. "You don't sound very happy about that."

"I will become a great warrior like Neith."

"You know, you can do that without a symbiote."

"I can?" Nesa asked in surprise.

"Mm-hmm." Daniel leaned a bit closer, lowering his voice. "But, uh, you didn't hear that from me." He gave her a secretive little nod, then turned away from her once more, glancing about the camp.

Nesa thought about what he'd said. She looked at the man sitting beside her. He noticed the look and gave her a smile. He had a very nice smile, Nesa decided, and beautiful eyes, as blue and deep as a clear summer sky. They looked at her warmly and gently.

Nesa felt something kindle in her that she'd never felt before, a sensation in her heart that felt both good and strange. She wanted to stay with Daniel and speak to him some more, but if Neith saw them together, she'd be angry.

Nesa got to her feet. "I should go."

"Okay. Maybe you should lie down for a while until you feel better."

"Yes, perhaps I should." Nesa hesitated. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Daniel smiled again. "We'll have to not talk with each other again sometime."

Nesa's lips turned upward. "Yes, I would like to not talk with you again."

Nesa left, glancing back several times at Daniel, who was still sitting on the log. Feeling a little happier, she headed for hers and Neith's tent.

* * *

Sam and Janet were worried. Though the other three Jaffa women were responding well to the treatments, Mala was not. Her white blood cell count was way down, and Janet knew that, if it kept going down, the woman would go into sepsis. All they could do was increase the amount of Tretonin even more, though Mala was already at twice the dose as the others. She would also have to be moved into an isolation room to reduce the danger of her being exposed to germs and bacteria.

Janet had no idea why the Tretonin was not working on Mala. Some would say that, in such an experiment, having three out of four test subjects respond positively would be a good result, but Sam pointed out that the Jaffa wouldn't look at it that way. If this did not succeed with all four women, it could end any hope that Ishta would recommend Tretonin to her people.

All they could do was hope that they'd see a turnaround in Mala soon.

* * *

Early the next morning, Daniel was awakened by a sound that he knew all too well: the sound of a staff weapon being readied for firing. He looked over his shoulder to find the weapon hovering just a few inches from his face. It was being held by Neith, who looked furious.

"Morning," Daniel greeted as calmly as possible.

"You had no right to speak to her," Neith yelled. When she'd learned that this man had spoken with her sister about Tretonin, making Nesa believe that she could be as much of a Jaffa with it as she would be with a symbiote, Neith had been enraged. Despite Nesa's pleas not to harm him, Neith had immediately grabbed her weapon and come to confront him.

"I'm sorry," Daniel said.

"I saved her from her birthright, and it will be with the symbiote I procure that I will save her once again. I have already lost two sisters, and I will not lose another one!"

Daniel attempted to calm her, holding up his hand placatingly. "Okay, okay. You lost two sisters. I'm sorry."

"Ishta was able to save me, but she could not save the next two girls sired by my father. He was a Jaffa stationed high in the imperial guard. I swore that, when I came of age, no more of my sisters would die. When I heard that my mother had given birth to yet another female, I knew what I had to do."

"You should be proud of that."

"My father discovered the ruse Ishta and I used to keep Nesa away from the fire. I had to kill him so we could escape."

Oh, boy. Daniel glanced at the staff weapon that was still mere inches from his head. _'Tread carefully, Daniel,'_ he told himself. "Well, don't you want to give Nesa a chance to live free of the Goa'uld?"

"Not your way," Neith growled, snapping out each word like a separate sentence. She closed the staff weapon, the noise making Daniel jump a little. Then she spun around and left the tent.

Daniel's tense muscles relaxed. That had been close. Neith's hatred was deep enough that she wouldn't have hesitated to kill him, if she'd gotten angry enough.

The archeologist sat up and put on his boots. He was preparing to stand when he heard someone hurrying up to the tent. Nesa threw back the flap. When she saw that Daniel was okay, she relaxed.

"I feared that Neith harmed you," she said, coming in.

"Well, she thought about it, but, fortunately for me, she decided not to kill me."

"I did not intend for her to learn that we spoke, but someone told her that they saw us together. She questioned me, and I revealed what you said. I am sorry."

"It's not your fault, Nesa. I'm okay."

"Neith does not understand. She thinks that your way is wrong."

"And what about you? What do _you_ think?"

"We should not be talking. If Neith finds out, she will be even more angered."

As she turned to go, Daniel noticed that her hands were shaking. She also looked pale.

"Nesa, are you all right? You don't look well."

The girl glanced at him. "I have to go." She was gone before Daniel could say anything more.

Daniel gave a sigh. He looked over at the empty cot on the other side of the tent. Teal'c had not slept there last night, and it didn't take a genius to figure out where the former First Prime of Apophis was instead. During these days that they'd been there, Daniel had noticed the relationship that was building between Teal'c and Ishta. They seemed to be spending most of their time together, going on walks, eating their meals alone in each other's company. Daniel was glad to see that Teal'c had found a woman to care about like that. He knew that a part of his friend still grieved over the loss of Drey'auc. Daniel just hoped that this relationship with Ishta didn't cause problems.

It was a few hours later when Daniel noticed a lot of activity going on in one area of the camp. He saw a woman rush off, appearing to be in a big hurry.

"What's wrong?" he asked someone.

"Nesa has take ill."

"What? Is it because she needs a symbiote?"

"Yes. If she does not receive one soon, she will die."

Daniel wanted to go see the girl, but figured that it wouldn't be allowed. He returned to his tent and found Teal'c standing outside it.

"What has occurred?" the Jaffa asked.

"Nesa's sick. She's going to need a symbiote or the Tretonin soon, and I really don't think her sister's going to allow the Tretonin treatments. She almost blew my head off with a staff weapon when she found out that I talked to Nesa about it."

"Has there been any word from Stargate Command about the testing?"

"No, and that kind of has me worried. The last time I talked to Sam, she said that, though the other three women were responding well, Mala wasn't. That was yesterday. I haven't had a chance to tell Ishta. She's, uh . . . been kind of busy with you."

Teal'c did not reply to this, which didn't surprise Daniel. After all, Teal'c's love life was certainly no business of his.

It was not long before the two men saw Neith running toward the tent where her sister lay. She was in there for only a couple of minutes when she reemerged, her face like thunder. She went striding over to a horse, hopped on its back, and galloped away.

"Perhaps we should go to the Stargate and tell Major Carter and Doctor Fraiser about this latest development," Teal'c suggested.

"Yes, I think that would be a good idea," Daniel responded.

As they walked toward the edge of the settlement, Teal'c glanced at Daniel. "You wish to know about my relationship with Ishta."

"No," the archeologist instantly replied. "Well, yeah, sort of. I know that you loved your wife a lot, and I'm glad that you've found someone . . . I mean, _if_ you've found someone. You've been spending a lot of time with her, and, um, I just . . . uh . . . you know." Daniel's voice trailed off in discomfort.

"Your belief that I am involved with Ishta is correct, Daniel Jackson. In some ways, she is very much like Drey'auc, possessing the same fiery spirit. Yet I believe that she is also more . . . I believe the Tau'ri would say 'pig-headed'."

Daniel smiled. "You'd never have known it by looking at her, but Sha're could be pig-headed at times, too. Of course, Jack would say that made her a perfect match for me. It was a part of who she was, and I wouldn't have wanted her to change."

They paused a short distance outside the encampment.

Daniel met his friend's eyes. "Teal'c . . . I don't know if this is something that you've thought about, but there is no reason for you to feel that you're betraying the memory of Drey'auc by being with Ishta. When I started having feelings for Sam, it would have been easy to look at it that way, but I knew that Sha're wouldn't want me to be alone for the rest of my life, that she'd want me to be happy. I'm betting that Drey'auc would feel the same way."

Teal'c appeared to consider this for a long moment. "I believe that you are right, Daniel Jackson."

Just then, both men noticed a bunch of Hak'tyl running past them, heading toward the forest.

"What is happening?" Teal'c called out.

"Neith has claimed joma secu!" replied a woman on horseback as she rode by.

"Joma secu?" Daniel questioned. "What's that?"

"Neith has challenged Ishta for the right of leadership. It is usually a fight to the death."

_'Oh, **wonderful**,'_ Daniel thought to himself, running after Teal'c, who had taken off in the direction everyone else was heading.

The two men had traveled only a short distance when Sam's voice came over the radio. "Daniel, Teal'c, this is Sam. Come in."

Daniel stopped to answer as Teal'c continued.

"Yeah, go ahead, Sam. It's me, Daniel," the archeologist said into the radio.

"We have some bad news."

"Uh, things aren't going that well here either. What's up?"

"It's Mala."

Even before Sam said the next words, Daniel knew it was really bad.

"She's dead," Sam told him, confirming his fears.

"What happened?"

"The Tretonin just wasn't working on her. Her blood pressure started dropping, and Janet wanted to put her symbiote back in, but Mala refused, insisting that we give it more time. When she lost consciousness, Janet couldn't wait any longer. The symbiote was put back in, but she coded almost immediately afterwards. We don't know exactly what happened, but Janet has determined that it was partly a reaction to her symbiote being reintroduced."

"And the others?"

"They're all fine."

"Sam, I need to go. We've got a big problem here. I'll contact you as soon as I can."

Not waiting for Sam to sign off, Daniel took off toward the others. He saw a large group of Hak'tyl ahead. Teal'c was striding into the midst of them, calling out Ishta's name. He didn't quite hear the conversation that followed, though Ishta sounded angry. He ran up to the group. Ishta had Neith on the ground, a staff weapon pointed at her.

Daniel broke the news to her that Mala was dead. Ishta was stunned and clearly upset.

"See what your weakness has brought," Neith responded angrily to the leader of the Hak'tyl. "Nesa is in need of a symbiote."

Ishta withdrew her weapon and offered her hand to Neith. "She shall have one!"

Neith took Ishta's hand, got to her feet, and took the staff weapon Ishta held out to her. She hurried away. Ishta began to follow, but was stopped by Teal'c, who grabbed her arm.

"Do not make this mistake," he said. "Moloc will not allow this to continue."

"You give me no choice," the woman responded angrily, trying to pull out of his grasp.

"How many warriors have to die?"

Ishta glared at him. "Our sisters in your care will be returned safely or the two of you will be sacrificed!" She strode away, shouting, "Kree shal Moloc!"

Teal'c and Daniel found themselves surrounded by several women pointing staff weapons at them. The rest left with Ishta.

The two men were marched back to the settlement and put in their tent, under guard.

"Well, this is not good," Daniel remarked.

"Ishta is acting foolishly, allowing her emotions to rule her," Teal'c said, looking rather pissed.

"She cares about her people, Teal'c. She's doing what she believes she has to. I don't agree with her, but I can understand her reaction."

"A leader must not allow their emotions to cloud their reason."

Daniel didn't respond immediately. "Teal'c, I know you're angry, but, sometimes, we can't help but let our emotions lead us." He met the Jaffa's eyes. "You know that."

Teal'c stared back at him for a few seconds then looked away, remembering times when he, too, let his emotions rule him, like when his need for revenge made him foolishly go after Tanith, an act that nearly killed both himself and O'Neill and resulted in him being brainwashed and betraying his teammates. How could he condemn Ishta for her actions when he had made the same mistake in the past?

Teal'c got to his feet and began to pace slowly back and forth.

"Look, I know you want to stop Ishta and the gang," Daniel said, "but even if we could get out of here, we don't know where they went."

Just then, the tent flap opened. The woman named Ka'lel and two other warriors entered.

"Come with me," Ka'lel said, then turned around and left.

Daniel and Teal'c exchanged a glance, wondering what this was about, then followed. They were taken to one of the other tents. Nesa was inside, lying on the bed, looking flushed with fever.

Nesa told them that she didn't want to take a symbiote, to allow someone else to be killed so that she could live. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Daniel asked if she had talked to her sister. He wasn't surprised when Nesa replied that Neith wouldn't listen to her.

"It is my right to decide, is it not?" Nesa asked.

"I'm not sure." Daniel looked up at one of the women in the tent, then back down to the girl. "It should be."

Nesa asked what happened to Mala. Daniel explained, stating that it shouldn't happen to someone who was never implanted. After Daniel confirmed that the Tretonin had worked in others, the girl said that she wanted to try it.

Daniel nodded at her. "Okay."

"Do you know where Ishta and Neith have gone?" Teal'c asked the girl.

"No."

"I do," Ka'lel stated.

Teal'c and Daniel looked at Ka'lel. She walked out of the tent, clearly intending for them to follow. As the other women left, Teal'c bowed to Nesa, then walked out. Daniel got to his feet and followed them.

He, Teal'c and Ka'lel hurried to the Stargate, picking up weapons for the two men on the way. The female warrior dialed the address, and they went through. They could hear the sound of battle in the distance and rushed forward. By the time they got there, the battle was over. The dead and dying lay everyone. Daniel couldn't help but think that these were lives that need not have been lost.

They could hear Ishta and Neith's voices and headed in their direction. The sudden sound of a staff weapon being fired and a woman's cry of pain made them break into a run. Neith was on the ground, having been shot in the back by one of the male Jaffa. The man and Ishta were pointing their weapons at each other. Before either could fire, Teal'c zatted the man, then ran to Ishta's side, Daniel and Ka'lel right on his heels.

"You okay?" Daniel shouted.

"She is severely wounded," Ishta replied, examining Neith. "Her symbiote is damaged as well." She picked up the dagger, apparently planning on using it to retrieve the symbiote from the male Jaffa who lay wounded before her. Teal'c grabbed her wrist.

"Ishta, you have a choice," he said.

Ishta turned to him angrily. The anger lasted only a moment, being replaced by grief. She dropped the dagger to the ground. Teal'c pulled her into his arms.

"I have lost Mala, and, now, Neith will die," the woman said in sorrow.

"She doesn't have to, Ishta," Daniel told her gently. "We came here because Nesa said that she doesn't want a symbiote. She wants to try the Tretonin. It might work for Neith, too."

Ishta gazed down at Neith, a tiny spark of hope kindling in her eyes. "We must hurry."

"We will return to Hak'tyl for Nesa," Ka'lel said. "Take Neith to the Tau'ri. Their medicine may keep her alive."

Ishta nodded.

Teal'c very carefully lifted the wounded woman into his arms.

"Wait!" Ishta said. She looked down at the man from whom she had intended to remove the symbiote. He was still alive. When she had first gone to him to remove his symbiote, he had said, "Shal'kek Nemron." I die free. In that moment, Ishta had realized with horror what the Hak'tyl may have done, that, this very day, they may have killed ones who could have been their allies.

"This one is a brother who wishes to be free," she said. "We cannot leave him to die."

Three of the other female warriors helped the man to his feet. They all trekked to the gate. Daniel dialed Earth and sent the IDC.

"We'll be there as soon as we can," he said. He watched Teal'c, Neith, Ishta and the three women with the wounded man go through the gate.

Shutting the wormhole down, Daniel then dialed Hak'tyl and went through with the others. He and Ka'lel went to Nesa's tent.

"What has happened?" the girl asked.

"Your sister's been wounded, Nesa," Daniel replied. "Her symbiote was damaged. She's been taken to Earth."

Nesa weakly struggled up onto her elbows. "I must be with her!"

"You will be. We're going to take you to Earth now."

Daniel carried the girl out of the tent. She was put on a horse with Ka'lel sitting behind her to support her. When another horse was brought for Daniel, he had the fleeting thought that he was glad he had some riding experience, though most of it was on camels rather than horses.

They made it to the Stargate as quickly as they could, unable to go fast with the ailing girl. Daniel carried Nesa through the gate, Ka'lel at his side. The girl was taken to the infirmary the moment they arrived, Ka'lel accompanying her. Daniel walked up to Sam and Jack, who'd been in the gate room to greet them.

"How's Neith?" the archeologist asked.

"Not good," Sam replied. "She's in surgery. Her symbiote is in bad shape, and Janet doesn't think it will survive."

"Did Teal'c tell you that Nesa wants the Tretonin?"

Sam nodded. "They're all ready for her. They will begin treatments immediately. Janet believes that, because Nesa has never been implanted with a symbiote, she should take to the Tretonin quite well, probably much more quickly than a Jaffa that has been implanted."

"I hope so. Where's Danny?"

"Waiting for you in your office. He wanted to be here for your arrival, but we figured it would be best for him to wait there."

The three of them went to the office. As soon as Danny spied Daniel, he ran up and gave the archeologist a big hug.

"I missed you," he said.

Daniel got down on one knee to hug him better. "I missed you, too."

"I saw the lady Jaffa. Sam told me that they're warriors and that no men live with them. That's like the Amazons, isn't it?"

"In a way. There are a lot of differences, though."

"Why don't they live with men?"

"Um . . . that's a little complicated." Daniel sat down with Danny. "You see, the Goa'uld who's their master is very evil. Like most Goa'uld, he's interested in defeating other Goa'uld so that he can take control of their territories. Because female Jaffa don't fight in Jaffa armies, he thinks they're worthless."

"But that's not true!" Danny declared, upset. "Mom wasn't worthless, and Sam isn't worthless. They're just as important as boys."

Smiling, Sam bent over and gave him a tight squeeze. "You bet we are," she said. "And thank you for saying that."

"Well, it's true."

"Everyone in this room agrees with you there, squirt," Jack said. "Moloc is just an idiot."

"If he hates girls, what was he doing to them?"

The adults exchanged a glance. Daniel didn't think that Danny should know about the sacrifices. The boy was way too young for that.

"Um, some of the things he does are really bad, Danny, and I think it would be best if you didn't know. It might give you nightmares."

"Does he kill them?" Danny asked in a muted voice.

"Yes, some of them. The female Jaffa you saw are part of a group of women who hate what he is doing and decided to do something about it. They call themselves the Hak'tyl, which means 'liberation' in Goa'uld. The Hak'tyl try to save as many female Jaffa that they can. They sometimes fight in battles against Moloc's Jaffa."

"Like the Amazons fought in battles against other armies."

"Uh huh."

Before the boy could ask any other questions about Moloc's treatment of the female Jaffa, Daniel decided to steer the conversation in a different direction. "There are girls of all different ages living with the Hak'tyl, including children. One of them is here, a girl named Nesa. She's several years older than you, but I think you'd like her. I'll have to take you to see her tomorrow. She lives with her sister, who was injured in a battle and is being taken care of in the infirmary. Nesa's in the infirmary right now as well."

"Was she hurt, too?"

"No. Uh, Teal'c explained to you all about how the Jaffa carry the young Goa'uld in their bodies, right?"

Danny nodded. "Sort of like how a kangaroo carries its babies in its pouch. He showed me the scar where the opening of the pouch was, though he said it's mostly sealed up now because he doesn't have a Goa'uld inside him anymore. He said that Jaffa can't live without a larva symbiote unless they take the special drug that he does."

"That's right. Nesa had reached the age where she needed to have a symbiote put inside her so that she wouldn't die, but she didn't want that, so Janet is giving her the drug. She'd gotten pretty sick, so she's recovering."

"Why does Nesa live with her sister? Are her mom and dad dead?"

Daniel exchanged another glance with his teammates. "Uh . . . her father is dead, but I think her mother is still alive. You see, Moloc doesn't allow parents to take care of their daughters. The girl babies are taken away from them. That's why Nesa is being taken care of by her sister."

"That's really mean."

"Yes, it is."

The adults managed to move the conversation away from the Hak'tyl, and Danny, thankfully, didn't ask any more questions.

Neith survived the surgery, but there was nothing that could be done to save her symbiote. It was dying, and, if she didn't agree to use the Tretonin, she would die as well. Nesa, on the other hand, was doing very well, already showing a vast improvement in her condition. It was now close to Danny's bedtime, but Daniel wanted to speak with Nesa first before going home. He left the boy in Jack's care and went to the infirmary.

First, he went to the ICU. Sam was in the observation room above the room where Neith had been put.

"How's she doing?" Daniel asked as he entered the observation room. He looked down into the room below and saw that Teal'c, Ishta and Janet were there with Neith.

"She's weakening," Sam replied. "She hasn't awakened yet. Janet's doing all she can, but Neith isn't going to last much longer without the Tretonin."

"Well, I saw firsthand how much Neith is against the Tretonin, and I'm afraid that she might decide to die rather than take it."

"Yeah."

"I'm going to go talk to Nesa. She deserves to know what's happening."

Daniel went to see the girl.

"How is Neith?" she asked. "The others tell me only that they are doing all they can for her. Please tell me the truth."

"She's not doing well. Her symbiote is dying. Our doctors have treated her injury as well as they can, but, without a new symbiote or the Tretonin, she'll die."

"Then you must give her the Tretonin. She must be made to see that it is the only way."

"I don't know if she'll take it, Nesa."

The girl sat up. "Then I must talk to her."

Daniel found her a robe and went with her to the ICU.

As they drew close to Neith's room, they heard Ishta say, "She will not listen to me." That statement told them that, just as Daniel suspected, Neith was refusing to try the Tretonin.

The archeologist and Nesa came into the room.

"Well, maybe she'll listen to her sister," Daniel said.

Nesa walked over to stand at Neith's bedside as Daniel joined Teal'c and Ishta at the foot of the bed.

"Please, Neith," the girl begged.

Neith looked at her then away. "You betrayed me."

"No. You betray me. Since before I can remember, you have taught me to believe in our freedom. You said you would do anything so that you might protect me. One day, I will be a great warrior like you, but I am not yet. I still need you. I have chosen to live free. You must choose to take the Tretonin if you are to continue to teach and protect me. Please. I do not wish you to die."

Neith lifted her hand and gently stroked Nesa's cheek. She gave the slightest of nods. Nesa bent over and laid her head on her sister's chest. Over the girl's hair, Neith looked at Daniel. He saw acceptance, forgiveness, and perhaps the tiniest bit of gratitude in the woman's eyes.

"We need to get started right away," Janet said.

Reluctantly, Nesa released her sister. She, Daniel, Teal'c, Ishta and Sam, who had just come in from the observation room, headed for the door.

"Daniel Jackson," Neith called. Everyone turned back to the woman in the bed. She paused a moment, then murmured, "Thank you."

Daniel gave her a soft smile and a nod, then left the room with the others. 


	30. Chapter 30

CHAPTER THIRTY

Though Nesa was greatly improved, she was still a little weak, so Daniel took her back to her room and insisted that she get some sleep. It had been a very long day, and Daniel was pretty tired. He and Sam went to his office. There, he found Jack perched on the corner of the desk, fiddling with one of the artifacts – which made the archeologist very nervous – and Danny asleep on the cot.

After plucking the artifact out of Jack's hands and returning it to its proper place, Daniel walked up to the cot. He ran a hand through the boy's hair.

"He conked off not long after you left," Jack said. "He was fighting it before then."

Daniel smiled. "Yeah, I know."

"It's really late, Daniel," Sam said. "You look tired. You need to go home and get some sleep."

The archeologist nodded.

"And don't worry about getting here bright and early in the morning," Jack added. "Sleep in. You've earned it."

"Earned it? I didn't do anything, Jack."

"That's not what I heard. From what I've been told, you're the one who convinced Nesa that Tretonin was the way to go."

Daniel shook his head. "I just told her that she didn't need a symbiote to be a warrior like her sister . . . and almost got my head blown off as a result."

Jack's eyebrows lifted. "Excuse me? You didn't mention anything about a near decapitation in the debriefing."

"Oh. Yeah. I sort of skimmed over that part."

"Well, I'd say it's time to dive into those little details. I'd sort of like to know when a teammate nearly loses his head."

Daniel told them about the incident with Neith. Sam was alarmed at how close Daniel came to getting killed.

"Don't tell Danny," the archeologist requested. "He doesn't need to know." His teammates agreed.

After changing into his civvies, Daniel gathered the sleeping child into his arms and carried him to the elevator. Sam accompanied them, intending to head home as well.

The archeologist looked over at her. He'd learned from her that she and Mala had spent some time talking. She had told him about the tragic event in the woman's life.

"I'm really sorry about Mala," he said. "She seemed like a good person."

Sam sighed. "She wanted her people to be free of the Goa'uld so badly. I asked Janet if she thought that we could have saved Mala if we'd put the symbiote back in sooner, when Janet first wanted to. She thinks that the same thing would have happened."

"Does she have any idea why it happened?"

Sam shook her head. "She can't do an autopsy. Ishta would not allow it, considering it a violation of the body. She can only assume that the symbiote reacted badly to the presence of Tretonin in Mala's body, which caused Mala to go into cardiac arrest. It could be because she had such a high amount of it in her system. Janet said that, in the future, if someone doesn't respond to the Tretonin within a reasonable amount of time, we won't keep upping the dosage. That's probably where we went wrong."

"At least Mala is getting what she wanted. After we left the infirmary, Ishta said that she would do all she could to convince the rest of the Hak'tyl to take the Tretonin. Ka'lel has already said that she wants to begin taking it. She's going to be taking Mala's place as one of Ishta's lieutenants."

Sam nodded. "I talked to her for a little while."

The elevator stopped on the eleventh floor. They got off and went to the desk at the other elevator, signing out. Then they resumed their trip upward.

Sam smiled. "She seems to have a pretty high opinion of you."

"Who?"

"Ka'lel."

"She does?"

"That's definitely the impression I got." Sam's gaze turned searching. "She said that you told the Hak'tyl you had more respect for me than you had words to express."

Daniel nodded. "Yes, I did, and I meant it. I have always respected you, Sam, as a scientist, as a woman and as a soldier. Sorry, I mean as an airman, uh . . . airwoman? Anyway, I know that I haven't told you that in so many words, but it is true."

Sam's smile returned. "Thank you. It means a lot to hear you say that." Her smile turned mischievous. "She also said that you spilled the beans about that time I decked the colonel."

Daniel groaned. "I _knew_ I shouldn't have told them that. If Jack finds out, he'll kill me."

Grinning, Sam leaned into him. "Don't worry. If he tries, I'll just deck him again." Then she gave him a kiss.

After they got off the elevator, Sam walked with Daniel to his car. He put Danny in the back seat, then straightened and turned to her. He pulled her into his arms, resting his head on her hair, eyes closed.

"I love you," he said.

Sam pulled back a little and gave him another kiss. "And I love _you_. I can't wait for our third date."

"Me neither. We'll have to make some plans for it."

"Yes, we will." They kissed again. "Sleep well, Daniel."

"You too."

Daniel got in the car and pulled out of the parking space, heading for home.

* * *

Daniel's first stop the next morning was to visit Nesa. Danny went with him.

"Hey," Daniel greeted with a smile. "How are you doing?"

"I am well," the girl replied. "Doctor Fraiser said that I may leave here."

"That's great."

Nesa's eyes went to Danny.

"Nesa, this is Danny."

"Hi," the boy said a little shyly.

"Hello." Nesa looked up at Daniel. "He is your son?"

"No."

"Your brother, then?"

"Um, no, not that either."

The girl's expression turned puzzled. "But the resemblance."

"Uh, yeah. There's a very good reason for that."

"Can I tell her?" Danny asked.

"Sure."

Danny turned back to Nesa. "I'm a clone," he announced, almost sounding proud of it. "I'm Daniel's clone."

Nesa's eyes widened. She stared at the boy, then looked up at Daniel. "He is you?"

"He's a clone of me. It's a very long story."

The girl's gaze returned to Danny. "I have been told of cloning, but I have never known anyone who was cloned. Is this common on Earth?"

"No. Actually, Danny is one of only two on the planet. Like I said, it's a very long story."

Nesa was released from the infirmary a few minutes later. They went to visit Neith, who was doing much better, having responded well to the Tretonin. It would be a couple of days before she was well enough to leave, however.

Neith gazed at the little boy beside her sister. Daniel made introductions.

"Daniel told me you got hurt. Are you feeling better now?" Danny asked the woman.

Surprised by the question, Neith replied, "Yes, I am. I am feeling much stronger. Are you Daniel Jackson's son?"

Danny grinned and shook his head, looking as if he was all prepared to launch into another announcement of who he was.

"May I tell her?" Nesa asked.

Danny looked at her. "Okay." He decided that would be just as much fun.

Neith was stunned when her sister told her who and what Danny was and studied both man and child closely. The striking resemblance removed any doubt she might have of the truth of the story.

They spoke with Neith for a while longer, then went to the commissary for breakfast. Most of the food was unfamiliar to Nesa, so Danny explained what each thing was, telling her what tasted good, what tasted okay, and what tasted "yucky." Nesa steered clear of the stuff Danny labeled "yucky."

While they ate, Danny asked Nesa about the Hak'tyl, filled with curiosity about them. The girl was a bit shy to talk about it at first, having no experience talking with male children, but was soon telling Danny all about the lives of the Hak'tyl. Danny, in turn, talked about his and Daniel's parents and their adventures on digs.

"All that really didn't happen to me," Danny explained at one point. "It really happened to Daniel when he was a little kid. But I have all the memories he did when he was my age, so it's like it really did happen to me."

Nesa looked at Daniel, a question in her eyes.

"Danny was physically eight years old when he was removed from the machine that cloned him," he told her, guessing that was what she was asking. "He was given the memories I had at that age. And, no, we weren't the ones who cloned him."

"The Cedarnans did," Danny supplied. "They didn't have very many children because something in the water made it so that it was hard for them to have kids. They cloned people so that they'd have more children."

"And they chose to clone you?" Nesa asked Daniel.

"Yes, though I didn't know it at the time. We found out, and I took Danny."

"But it's okay because we fixed it so that they'll be able to have more kids now," Danny said. "They won't be cloning any more people."

The three of them finished their breakfast, then Daniel took Nesa to the VIP room that she'd be staying in until she, Neith, Ishta and Ka'lel returned home. Ka'lel was presently undergoing the Tretonin treatments and was responding well. Ishta was following the procedure as part of her training in how to administer the drug.

"Would you like me to stay and keep you company?" Danny asked the girl in her room.

Surprised, Nesa didn't know what to say.

"I think that's a great idea," Daniel said. "How about if we get your computer, and you can show it to Nesa? You can teach her how to play some of the games."

Danny liked that idea a lot and went with Daniel to his office to get the laptop.

Nesa was intrigued by the computer. Living with the Hak'tyl, she had very little experience with technology other than staff weapons and a few other items. Things like computers were unknown to her, except what she'd been told in her schooling.

Because she couldn't read English, she couldn't play the educational games, so Danny taught her how to play a racing car game. The Jaffa girl was soon having a lot of fun driving the brightly colored car through the fantasy world, though she had as much fun crashing it into trees and boulders as she did keeping it on the road. Every time she did that, Danny added his own crashing sounds to the ones in the game. Soon, Nesa was doing the same. Everyone passing by the room often heard laughter.

Once they were tired of the game, Danny took it upon himself to start teaching Nesa how to write hieroglyphs.

"Mom and Dad taught me how to read and write them," he told her as they began.

"Where are your parents now?" Nesa asked. "Do they still live?"

Danny's happy mood vanished. He stared down at the paper before him. "They got killed." His voice dropped further. "I saw it."

The news saddened Nesa. She had begun to really like the boy, seeing him as a friend. "I am sorry."

"It wasn't really me who saw it, but I remember it like it was." Danny started toying with the sheet of paper. "I miss them a lot." He looked at Nesa. "Do you miss your Mom and Dad? Daniel said that they weren't allowed to keep you because of the laws of your people."

Nesa stared at the boy, realizing that he didn't know the truth about Moloc. All children of the Hak'tyl knew about the sacrifices and how they had been saved. But this little boy was not one of them, and it had apparently been decided that he should not know the truth.

"I do not remember them," Nesa said. "I was just a baby when I was taken by Neith." She paused. "But I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to know them. Neith was almost like my mother when I was very young, but I wonder what having a father is like."

"My dad was great. When I was little, he'd ride me on his shoulders and swing me around in the air." Danny smiled. "Sometimes, he hung me upside-down while Mom tickled me."

Hearing the boy speak of his father made Nesa wish that she could have experienced such joy. "He sounds nice."

Thinking about the happy times with his parents made Danny start to cry. He didn't want Nesa to think he was a baby, so he tried to hide it, but the girl noticed. Tears were not something that the children of the Hak'tyl shed very often, having been taught to be strong, but Nesa had cried in private more than once.

The girl didn't know what she should do. Awkwardly, she reached a hand out to the boy, drawing it back before touching him. She stared at Danny a moment longer, then reached for him again, this time touching his shoulder. He kept his face hidden from her.

Nesa remembered a time when she was feeling very sad, and Neith had drawn her close, holding her tight until the sorrow went away. Tentatively, she put her arm around Danny's shoulders, pulling him a little closer. After a moment, he leaned against her.

"You think I'm a baby, don't you," he mumbled.

"No. Why would I think that?"

"I try not to cry about Mom and Dad anymore, except when I have the nightmares. Daniel said it was okay to cry, but I don't want him to be worried about me and to be sad because I am, so I try not to cry, and I don't let him see when I do. I don't let Uncle Jack, Sam, Teal'c or Grandpa George see either, cus they'd tell him."

Nesa gazed at the boy. So, she was not the only one who hid her tears. "I do not let Neith see me cry either."

Danny glanced up at her. "You don't?"

"No. I want her to think that I am strong. I will be a great warrior like her someday, and warriors must be strong."

"But warriors can cry. Sam is kind of a warrior because she's in the Air Force, and she cries. I asked Teal'c if he cried when his wife died, and he said he did, and I bet Uncle Jack cried when his son died. You can cry and still be strong."

Unbeknownst to the children, someone was watching them. Daniel stared at them through the partly open door, his heart aching so badly that it physically hurt. He'd arrived just in time to hear Danny talk about hiding his tears from everyone. He'd had no idea that Danny was doing that, trying to spare him the pain of seeing the boy grieve. God, how could he have not known this? How could he have been so blind?

Tears of his own filling his eyes, Daniel silently closed the door and went to his office. He closed the doors and sat at the desk, cursing himself for being a fool and not seeing how much Danny was still suffering.

Resting his elbows on the desk, Daniel lowered his head into his hands. He didn't hear the soft knock on his door or, a moment later, the entrance of Jack into the room.

Jack was stunned and dismayed when he saw Daniel at his desk, looking like he was on the verge of tears. The colonel shut the door and hesitantly stepped forward.

"Daniel?" he inquired softly.

The archeologist jumped a mile, his head jerking up to look at Jack. He instantly looked away, wiping a finger across his eyes.

"Daniel, what's wrong? Has something happened?"

"I found out that I'm not the good parent Catherine thought I was," the younger man replied in a soft, sad voice. "I've let Danny down."

Having no clue what Daniel could be talking about, Jack wheeled a chair over and straddled it. "What are you talking about?"

Daniel told the older man what he'd just learned. Jack was upset by the news as well. Danny had hid this from all of them. Right now, though, it was Daniel who needed comforting.

"He kept this from all of us, Daniel. I didn't know either, and I'm betting that Carter, Teal'c and Hammond had no clue. This does not make you a bad parent."

"I should have known. I should have figured it out."

"Daniel, despite that telepathic link between you and Danny, you're not psychic. I know from experience that, when children really want to, they can be damn good at keeping things from us. Charlie once got a nasty cut on his arm doing something that I'd told him not to. He didn't tell me or Sara, hiding it from us even though he was hurting. He put band-aids on it and tried to wash the blood out of his shirt. When it wouldn't come clean, he threw it away. Sara found it in the trash. The cut needed several stitches. Afterwards, I told Charlie never to hide something like that from us again, that his safety and well-being were far more important than the fact that he'd disobeyed me."

Jack laid a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "You need to talk to him, Daniel, tell him that hiding his pain isn't right, that you want to know when he cries. And don't you dare feel guilty about this. What matters now is that you know and can do something about it." He shook his head. "That little kid is even more like you than I thought. This is just the kind of thing you do, hiding how much you're hurting from everyone, especially the people who care about you. And, before you say anything, yes, I know I do the same thing. It's a curse of being male, thinking we need to put on a strong face in front of everyone."

Daniel drew in an unsteady breath. "I guess we can be idiots sometimes."

"Oh yeah, something women are very well aware of and, no doubt, talk about at length with each other."

That got a faint smile out of Daniel.

"So, you going to be okay?" Jack asked, gazing at him intently.

Daniel nodded. "Yeah. Thanks. So, uh, what were you originally coming to see me about?"

"Nothing important. It'll keep."

"How are things going along with getting that child psychologist?"

"I don't know. You want me to ask?"

"No, I'll ask General Hammond. In fact, this would probably be a good time to do that, now that I know Danny really needs it."

Daniel went to the general's office and asked about the psychologist.

"Yes, we've made arrangements for a Doctor Meredith Woods to treat him. She is being briefed on the case and can begin on Saturday, if that works for you."

"Would it be done here or at her office?"

"Because of the classified nature of the case, doing it in her office is not possible. It can be done here or in your home."

Daniel thought about it. "I think at home would be better. I'm sure that Danny would feel more comfortable there."

Hammond nodded. "I will let you know the details once all the arrangements have been made."

* * *

Danny and Nesa were virtually inseparable for the rest of that day, the sharing of their emotions having bonded them in the pure, simple and unquestioning way that only children can bond.

Danny wanted Nesa to come home with them and was very disappointed when Daniel said she couldn't.

"But why not?" the boy asked.

"Well, because, for one thing, she's not human."

"Teal'c's not human either, but he can leave the base."

"Well, yes, but he's an adult. If something was to happen, he could deal with it. It just wouldn't be a good idea."

"So, she's gonna have to stay in a VIP room all by herself? She's not used to being by herself. She sleeps in the same tent as Neith."

"I'm sure she'll be just fine, Danny."

The boy frowned, not certain of that. "We could stay here tonight, then Nesa could stay with us in our room."

_'Oh, yes, and then Neith will **definitely** blow my head off when she finds out I slept in the same room as her little sister,'_ was Daniel's first thought. Yes, Neith had been quite friendly to him in the infirmary that morning, but he doubted that she'd take kindly to him, or any other man, sharing a room with her sister, even if there was another child present.

"Uh, no, I don't think that would be a good idea, Danny. Her sister would not like that."

"Why not?"

"Because she doesn't know me all that well, and she's very protective of Nesa. If Nesa gets lonely during the night, she can go to the infirmary and be with her sister."

Danny was still frowning, but finally nodded. "Okay, I guess it's all right, then."

Shortly after dinner, Daniel took a seat on the couch, knowing it was time that he and Danny talked.

"Danny, come over here. We need to talk."

Seeing the serious look on the adult's face, Danny asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

"Well, yes, in a way, you did, but you're not in trouble, and I'm not mad." Daniel motioned for the boy to sit beside him. "Danny, I heard what you told Nesa, about trying not to cry and hiding it from me when you do."

Danny's eyes widened in alarm and dismay. "You weren't supposed to know!" he cried.

"Yes, I know. You didn't want me to be sad to see you crying."

Danny was now staring at his lap.

"Danny, I want you to listen to me. I love you, and, because I do, I want to know whenever you're sad. I don't ever want you to hide that from me. Yes, I'll be sad that you're sad, and, yes, I may worry about you, but that's also because I love you. It bothers me a whole lot more to know that you've been hiding your sadness from me than it would have bothered me to see you sad." He tilted the boy's face up and looked into eyes that were a younger version of his own. "So, I want you to promise me that you will never hide from me that you're sad."

"I promise."

Daniel smiled and pulled the child close, kissing the top of his head.

"I love you, Daniel, more than anybody, except Mom and Dad," Danny whispered.

Tears filled the archeologist's eyes. "And I love you more than anybody, you and Sam."

Danny drew back and gazed up at Daniel. "If _you're_ ever sad, will you promise to tell me?"

Daniel didn't answer, the question catching him unprepared.

"If I need to tell you when _I'm_ sad, then you should tell me when _you're_ sad," Danny reasoned.

Crap. A child's logic and reasoning could be damn inconvenient sometimes. How could he refuse to make that promise?

"Um . . . okay. I promise."

"Good."

"Okay, now that we've both promised to be honest with each other about our feelings, have you been having nightmares that you didn't tell me about?" Daniel asked.

Danny's gaze was immediately back to his lap. "Sometimes."

"How often is 'sometimes'?"

"I don't know."

"Well, however often it's been, that's going to stop right now. If you have a nightmare, you tell me. If it's not a really bad one, then you can tell me in the morning, but if it's really bad, and you're crying, I want you to come into my bedroom and let me know."

"But that would make me a big baby," Danny objected.

"Where did you get that idea?"

"Only really little kids go running into their mom and dad's room when they have a nightmare or get scared at night."

Daniel honestly didn't know what to say to that. It was true that, by the time he reached his eighth birthday, he no longer sought safety in his parents' bed when he was frightened by a nightmare or something else. He had assumed that was normal for an eight-year-old.

"Okay, we'll compromise. If the nightmare is about something terrible happening to Mom and Dad or me, and it's really bad, you come into my room. We'll talk about it, then, when you feel better, you can go back to bed. For all other nightmares, you can wait till morning. Deal?"

It took a while for Danny to answer. "Deal," he finally said, rather reluctantly. "Will you be telling me about your nightmares?"

"Uh . . . no. Some of my nightmares are not things that you need to know about."

"Like what?"

"Just . . . scary things, sad things, sometimes things to do with missions that went bad and, um, other stuff I've been through in the past."

"Do you still have nightmares about Mom and Dad?"

"No, not in a long time." That was a nightmare he hadn't had since the incident with the Keeper. It had plagued him for a few nights after that, then faded away. Most of his nightmares now were about losing either Danny or Sam. And then there was that whopper he had after deciding to leave SG-1. Nope, Danny definitely didn't need to know about that.

Fortunately, Danny didn't press the issue. They watched TV for a while, then it was time for the boy to go to bed.

Daniel didn't get awakened by Danny that night, but the boy did confess the next morning that he had a nightmare. It was about their parents, but he insisted that it wasn't "really, really bad." Daniel wasn't certain of that, but let is slide. Danny was trying very hard to be grown-up about things now. It was what Daniel himself had done after his parents' death. The difference was that _he_ didn't have someone to turn to, whereas Danny did.

Even before the death of his parents, Daniel had been pretty independent for his age, and he figured that Danny's attitude was an example of the same personality trait. Weeks ago, the boy had been far too emotionally fragile for that independence to manifest itself. Such was no longer the case.

Danny and Nesa spent a great deal of that day together. Daniel hung out with them for a while. Nesa's shyness had mostly dissipated in his presence, and the three of them had fun. Sam and Jack each stopped by to say hi.

While she was there, Sam happened to catch a look that Nesa gave Daniel when he wasn't looking and instantly recognized it for what it was. She hid her smile, wondering if Daniel had any idea that the young Jaffa girl had a crush on him. Probably not.

The next morning, Janet agreed that, though she still had healing to do, Neith was well enough to go home. An hour later, the Hak'tyl women were on the ramp, waiting for the gate to dial. Across from them were SG-1 and Danny.

"Will you come and visit?" Nesa asked Daniel.

"Yes, of course," he replied.

Smiling, Neith said, "My sister has developed quite an affection for you."

Sam saw the moment that comprehension dawned on Daniel's face. She repressed her smile with a great deal of effort. Teal'c didn't even try hiding his.

Nesa nudged Neith, embarrassed at her sister's revelation. "Neith," she whispered.

Daniel smiled, glancing at his teammates to see the smile Teal'c wore and the one Sam was fighting. He noticed that Jack was grinning. Oh, boy. He could probably expect to get some teasing about this.

Danny looked at Nesa sadly. He was really going to miss her. They might not ever see each other again.

"I'm going to miss you, Nesa," he mumbled, eyes downcast.

"I am going to miss you, too," the girl replied. "Could you not visit as well?"

Danny looked up at Daniel pleadingly. "Could I?"

"Um . . . I don't know, Danny. I'd have to get permission for you to go through the gate. I'll see what I can do."

A little shyly, Nesa stepped forward. Danny did as well, and the two friends hugged.

Ishta looked on, smiling at the sight. "We are grateful to our new friends." Her gaze went to the others. "On behalf of the Hak'tyl, I'd like to express our thanks."

"Our medical team will be checking in on a regular basis," Sam told her. "Be sure to take note of any symptoms that could be a side effect of the Tretonin."

"You have trained us well in the use of the medicine," Ka'lel said.

"The food and supplies you have provided will go far," Ishta stated.

"Well, if there's anything else you need, anything, just give us a call," Jack told them. "Send us an email."

Ishta, paying no attention to Jack, locked eyes with Teal'c. "Just that not so many moons go by before we see you again."

She and Teal'c stepped forward, went into each other's arms and began kissing.

Jack, totally oblivious to what was going on, responded, "Oh, don't worry. I'm sure we'll be in. . . ." He looked up and saw the lip lock that Teal'c and Ishta were in. Just then, the gate activated. "Touch," Jack finished, staring at the couple.

Daniel and Sam exchanged a glance, smiling. They looked down at Danny to see that he was grinning broadly. Taking him by the arm, Daniel turned and headed for the exit with Sam. Neith and Nesa smiled and went through the gate with Ka'lel. Jack, his eyebrows rising, made his own exit.

When Teal'c and Ishta finally stopped kissing, they were alone in the gate room. Not paying any attention to that fact, they drew apart. Ishta walked up the ramp to the event horizon. She turned around, bowed slightly, then stepped into the wormhole. 


	31. Chapter 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Daniel was right about the teasing. Jack couldn't resist making a comment at lunch that Nesa certainly did seem to like him. Of course, the true meaning of the comment went right over Danny's head.

"Nesa said that she thought you were very nice," the boy said.

Jack snickered slightly.

Suppressing a smile, Sam said, "Danny, you and Nesa seemed to have gotten along very well."

Danny nodded. "She's fun to play with, though she didn't know how to play a lot of the games, and I had to teach her. She's really pretty, too."

The adults exchanged a glance, wondering if there was more than one crush going on.

A while later, back in Daniel's office, the archeologist called Danny over to his chair.

"Danny, there's something I think you should see. If you decide that you don't want to, it's all right."

"What's that?"

"I told you that Nesa was put on Tretonin so that she wouldn't need a Goa'uld symbiote. Well, she wasn't the only one. Janet removed the symbiotes from several of the other Hak'tyl women and put them on Tretonin. I'm afraid that one of them died because she had a bad reaction, but the others are all fine. Anyway, their symbiotes are still here, stored in tanks that keep them alive."

"Could they accidentally get out?"

"No, everyone is really careful about that. What I wanted to know is if you would like to see one. We've talked to you about the Goa'uld, and you know that they look a little like snakes, but you haven't had the opportunity to see one. Would you like to?"

Danny nodded.

Daniel took the boy to the infirmary. He was hoping that this wasn't a mistake, that it wouldn't add more fodder to Danny's nightmares. It had actually been Teal'c's suggestion that Danny be shown one of the symbiotes. The Jaffa believed that the boy should have a clear picture of what their enemy looked like. Daniel had called Janet to find out what she thought about it. The doctor had some reservations, but believed that Danny could handle it.

"Hello, Danny," Janet greeted when he and Daniel arrived. "So, are you ready to see a Goa'uld?"

"Yeah."

She took the two of them to one of the isolation rooms. The tanks were there. Danny cautiously approached them, staring at the creatures within.

"Their heads are weird," he commented, "not like a snake's."

"No, they're not," Daniel agreed.

"I don't see any wings."

"Well, even in an adult symbiote, the wings are almost impossible to detect until they spread them," Janet explained. "All of these larvae are quite young and haven't developed their wings yet."

"Could they take control of somebody if they got out?"

Daniel and Janet exchanged a glance. That was one fact about the Goa'uld that Daniel would have preferred Danny not know, but it had come out anyway in the discussions about the Goa'uld. So far, it hadn't caused any problems in regards to nightmares.

"No, I believe that they're too young," the doctor replied. "They'd probably die if they tried."

"Teal'c said that the Goa'uld are born with all the memories of their parents, kind of like I have all Daniel's memories of when he was my age."

"That's right. It's called genetic memory and is passed down from generation to generation."

"So, they remember what their parents, and grandparents and great grandparents did?"

"We don't know exactly how many personal memories are passed down to each generation," Daniel replied.

Danny stepped closer to one of the tanks. The symbiote stopped swimming around and appeared to stare at him.

"It doesn't look very scary," Danny declared. "It looks like a really ugly snake with no scales and a deformed head."

The two adults smiled at the description.

"Oh, I definitely agree that they're ugly," Daniel said.

"What are you going to do with them?"

"They're going to be sent to Area 51 to be studied," Janet replied. She didn't add that, eventually, the larvae would be killed.

"Are you ready to go?" Daniel asked the boy.

Danny studied the symbiotes for a moment longer, then nodded. They returned to Daniel's office. They hadn't been there for long when Captain Hardwick came in.

"Hey, Doctor Jackson, Danny. Tommy's been bugging me ever since the fourth about letting Danny spend the night. We've had a lot of stuff going on, so it wouldn't have worked out before now, but, if Danny still wants to spend the night, tomorrow would work out for us. I've got Friday off, so there wouldn't be a problem with all of us staying up late."

Danny's eyes lit up, and he turned to Daniel. "Can I?"

"I don't see why not. It sounds like fun."

"Great," the captain said. "How about if I take Danny home with me when I get off duty tomorrow? Then you won't have to drop him off. And it'll give the kids more time to play."

"That'll be fine," Daniel replied.

"All right. I'll see you then."

After Captain Hardwick had left, a thought came to Daniel. "Danny, I need to go talk to Sam about something. I'll be back in a while."

"Okay."

Daniel headed to Sam's lab.

"Did you take Danny to see the symbiotes?" she asked. Daniel had told her and Jack that he was planning on showing Danny the symbiotes after the Hak'tyl left. They'd had concerns about it but hadn't tried to discourage the archeologist from doing it.

"Yes, I did, and everything went really well," Daniel replied. He repeated Danny's description of the symbiote to her, which made her smile. "These days, a lot of kids Danny's age have already been exposed to quite a bit of frightening and gruesome stuff on TV, but it wasn't that way back when I was that age, so I was concerned that a symbiote would be a bit scary."

"Well, he has seen mummies and other mummified creatures, right?"

Daniel nodded. "Which is something most eight-year-olds have not seen in real life, unless they've gone to a museum that had one on display." He smiled. "I think I was around five years old when I saw my first mummy. There was a woman we'd met that was constantly dieting, and she was really quite thin. I looked at that mummy and said that it looked like it had been dieting too much, like Miss Reed. Mom and Dad thought that was hilarious."

Sam laughed, thinking it was funny, too. "So, do you think Danny's going to have any problems?"

"No, I don't think so. Other than a brief concern about one getting out and taking control of someone, he seemed very calm. He also was curious, of course. I think he'll be fine."

"That's good. I heard that his first session with the psychologist is on Saturday."

"Yeah. She's coming to our house. I figured that would be the best way to do it. I just hope things go well and that she's not like the one who came to see me. The woman was a bit on the distant side, a little too professional, which may be one of the reasons why she couldn't get through to me." Daniel looked at Sam. "There's a particular reason why I came here. Captain Hardwick just stopped by to find out if Danny could spend the night with his son tomorrow. I was thinking that this would be the perfect opportunity for us to go on another date."

"Sure. I'd love to. You know, to be fair, _I_ should take _you_ out this time."

"Actually, I've got something else in mind."

That sparked Sam's curiosity. "Oh?"

Daniel stepped forward and gathered her into his arms. "How would you like me to cook for you, Samantha Carter?"

"Mmm. That sounds wonderful. Can you cook?"

"I wouldn't win any awards, but I can manage. I've gotten out of practice these past few years. Being single and spending so much time working, it was a lot easier fixing those ready-made entrees you get in the store, the ones you dump into the microwave or in a skillet. Now that I have Danny, though, I'm getting back into actually fixing meals." Daniel grinned. "I haven't poisoned him yet."

"Then I would love to have you cook dinner for us. I think that's very romantic."

Daniel kissed her. "Well, that's good. Romantic is what I'm aiming for."

On the way home, Daniel decided to stop at the grocery store to find something special to fix for the date. Danny was quite pleased about the date and offered all kinds of suggestions for what Daniel should fix, macaroni and cheese being his first choice. As gently as possible, the archeologist explained that something fancier would probably be better. In the end, he decided to go with Chicken Parmesan for the main course, having a recipe for a sweet marinara sauce that he really liked.

The next afternoon, Daniel left work right after Captain Hardwick got Danny. He wanted to make sure he had enough time to prepare dinner.

As the time for Sam's arrival grew close, Daniel began getting nervous. He hoped that everything was going to turn out okay. This was the first time he'd ever cooked dinner for a woman. On Abydos, cooking was considered to be something husbands simply did not do, so Sha're had never allowed him to do the cooking . . . although she _did_ allow him to grind the flour. Some of it actually managed to get put in food rather than all over Daniel.

Everything was almost done when the doorbell rang. Wiping his hands on a towel and removing the apron he'd had on to protect his clothes, Daniel went to answer it. Sam was wearing a pretty peach-colored blouse and a full skirt that was several shades darker. He had told her that she didn't need to dress up for this date, but there was no way she was going to show up in jeans.

"Hi," Daniel greeted. He kissed her as she came in. "You look beautiful. I like the blouse."

"Thank you."

Daniel helped her off with her sweater and hung it up in the coat closet. Heading for the kitchen, Sam saw that the dining room table was set with pretty china. In the center of the table, there was a single red rose with some greenery and baby's breath in a bud vase and two small candles in cut crystal holders. It was lovely, romantic but not overdone.

"Dinner's almost ready," Daniel told her, joining her.

Sam drew in a deep breath as she entered the kitchen. "It smells delicious. What did you fix?"

"Chicken Parmesan, angel hair pasta and baby carrots."

Sam smiled. "Ah, Italian again, huh?" She wrapped her arms around Daniel's waist. "Sounds wonderful."

Daniel took possession of her mouth, intending it to be a soft kiss. It didn't turn out that way. It wasn't long before they were kissing with hungry passion. Daniel had Sam up against the counter, his hands stroking her body, one leg pressed between hers, when the timer on the oven went off. The couple stared at each other with passion-filled eyes, both tempted to forego dinner and do what they'd been longing to do for so many weeks. Silently, they agreed against it.

They separated, and Daniel sent Sam to the dining room. As she waited for Daniel, she studied the china. It looked quite old, a delicate blue floral pattern imprinted on it.

Daniel came out of the kitchen with a bottle of wine and poured each of them a glass.

"This is pretty," Sam said, pointing at the china.

"It belonged to my maternal grandmother. Mom had it. After she and Dad were killed, Nick arranged for some of their things to be put in storage. I had no idea that he still had the china until I went through his stuff after he decided to stay on P7X-377. I went and got it a while ago. I, um, thought that we might use it someday, and I didn't think he'd mind."

Daniel went back into the kitchen and returned with the salad, which he served.

The meal was wonderful, and Sam praised Daniel for it more than once. She especially liked the marinara sauce, which was sweeter than others she'd tasted, but not too sweet. It turned out that the recipe came from an elderly Italian woman Daniel had befriended many years ago.

Dessert was a Dutch apple pie that Daniel explained he did not make himself.

"I've never baked a pie in my life, so I shudder to think what it would have tasted like if I'd made it."

"Making apple pie from scratch takes hours. By the time you've finished peeling and coring all the apples, you don't ever want to see another one for the rest of your life. Mom and I did it once for four pies. The next time, we used canned apples."

Though Daniel didn't want her to, Sam insisted on helping him wash the dishes.

"You should get a dishwasher," she said as she rinsed a plate.

"I've been thinking about it. When it was just me, washing them by hand was no big deal. Now, there are twice as many to do, and I swear it seems like more sometimes."

Sam turned back to the dishes to be rinsed. She was startled when the pan Daniel was scrubbing crashed loudly back into the sink. She looked at Daniel's face to see that he'd turned pale.

"Oh, God," he whispered. "Something's wrong."

"What? What's wrong? What are you talking about?"

Not answering her, Daniel ran into the living room and grabbed the phone with hands slippery with soap. He dialed the number Captain Hardwick had given him. The call was answered by a woman.

"Hello? Is this Mrs. Hardwick?" Daniel asked, trying to remain calm despite the fact that he was certain something terrible had happened.

"Yes, it is," the woman replied.

"This is Daniel Jackson. Is Danny there?"

"No, Lucas took the kids to the movies. They should be back soon."

"Does your husband have a cell phone?"

"Yes. What's this about?"

"I just . . . I need to get hold of Danny."

The woman gave the number to Daniel, who called it. He got the captain's voice mail immediately, which indicated that either the phone was off or not working.

"Daniel, what's going on?" Sam asked as he hung up.

"Something's happened, Sam, I'm sure of it. I saw flashes of images and. . . ." Daniel's eyes met hers. "I felt Danny's fear, Sam, almost like it was my own."

"Oh my God."

"We have to find them. I think they might have been in a car accident."

Daniel and Sam hurried out of the house and to Daniel's car. Thinking that they might need the help, Sam called Jack, who was alarmed by what she told him. He said that he'd call the police and find out if there had been any accidents reported between the movie theater and where the Hardwick's lived, which was in a rural area a few miles out of town. He then intended to go out and start searching as well.

Sick with fear, Daniel drove, Sam sitting beside him. He began heading toward the theater, intending to start there, but something guided him in another direction. He soon realized that he was heading toward Captain Hardwick's house.

Sam's cell rang. It was Jack.

"There haven't been any accidents reported on any streets they'd have taken to get back to Hardwick's house," he said. "I'm getting in my car now to start looking."

Sam passed the information on to Daniel.

"Tell him to head for Captain Hardwick's," he said.

Sam stared at him. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Don't ask me how, but I'm sure."

She relayed to Jack what Daniel had said, then hung up. She looked again at the archeologist. Even in the darkness, she could see the fear on his face. His hands were clutching the steering wheel, white-knuckled. She wasn't going to tell him that she was sure Danny was all right. The truth was that she was terrified, too.

They were now on the quiet rural road upon which the Hardwicks lived. Daniel had slowed way down, knowing without any doubt that they were getting close. He abruptly slammed on the brakes, coming to a dead stop in the middle of the road. He jumped out of the car, looking around. Seeing nothing, he called out.

"Danny! Danny, can you hear me?" There was no answer. He yelled Danny's name louder. And then he heard something, a faint sound up ahead and to the right. He ran forward with Sam right behind him, angling toward the side of the road.

"Oh, God," Sam gasped as they came to a halt. Around seventy feet down the side of a steep embankment was a car. It was leaning against a couple of trees, which were the only things keeping it from falling the rest of the way down the slope.

Not even stopping to consider that he should wait for a rescue team, Daniel told Sam to call for help and started down.

In the daylight, the descent would have been treacherous enough, but, in the dark, Daniel could barely see what he was doing. He cursed himself for not having brought a flashlight from home, knowing that the one in his glove compartment had virtually dead batteries.

After tripping over a fallen limb and nearly tumbling down the hillside, Daniel forced himself to go more slowly, though his fear was urging him to get to Danny as fast as possible.

It seemed to take forever to get to the car, but, at last, he was almost there. Sick with the thought of what he might see, Daniel slowly covered the last few feet. The driver's side of the car was up against the trees. Captain Hardwick was slumped, unmoving, behind the wheel. As Daniel got still closer, he saw Tommy in the back seat behind his father, also unconscious. Where was Danny? God, please don't let him have been thrown from the car.

Just then, Daniel heard a scared little voice. "Daniel?"

"Danny?" Daniel reached the car and looked down in the back seat. Danny was lying there, clinging to the door handle to keep himself from sliding across the seat, which was tilted at a steep angle. The window was open partway, and Daniel stuck a shaking hand through it, touching the boy's head.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, his voice shaking as badly as his hands.

"Only a little," Danny replied, "but I think Tommy's hurt bad, and I'm afraid Captain Hardwick might be dead. Tommy was bleeding a lot from a cut on his arm. I tried to make a bandage with my jacket, but it didn't work very well."

Daniel looked at the other boy and saw that the sleeve of Danny's jacket was tied around the boy's forearm.

"I tried to open the door and get out so I could get help, but it's too heavy," Danny said.

"It's okay, Danny. I'm here now, and more help is on the way. You're doing great."

"I'm afraid the car will fall more."

Daniel checked out the situation. The two trees that the car had come to a rest against were both pretty sturdy and appeared to be doing a good job of holding the car. Even so, he didn't trust that they would hold it forever.

"Um, Danny, I'm going to open the door and get you out. Is there something else you can hold onto to keep yourself from sliding?"

"I don't know, maybe the side of the seat."

"Okay, you do that. Let me know when you've got a good grip."

One hand at a time, Danny released his grip on the door handle and took hold of the edge of the seat, telling Daniel when he had a firm hold.

Daniel tried to open the door, but gravity was working against him, and he couldn't get a good footing on the ground. Every time he managed to get the door open an inch or two, his feet would slip. But he refused to give up. Then, suddenly, someone else was there. Daniel looked at Jack. A thousand words passed between them in a single glance.

"Danny?" Jack said. "It's Jack."

"Jack? I'm scared," the boy responded.

"I know you are, buddy, but we're going to get you out of there. I promise. Come on, Daniel. Let's get that door open."

Between the two men, they managed to open the door. As Jack braced it open, Daniel reached in and grabbed hold of Danny. Moments later, he and the child were sitting on the ground, clinging to each other. Daniel kissed Danny's face and buried his own face in the golden hair, trying very hard not to cry. He didn't quite succeed. He pulled back and stroked Danny's head, pushing the boy's hair from his face.

"Are you sure you're not hurt badly?" he asked, scanning for injuries. He noticed a bruise high on Danny's right cheekbone.

"My arm hurts. I hit it on the door. A deer ran in front of us. Captain Hardwick tried to miss it, and we went off the road."

They all heard the sound of approaching sirens, heralding the arrival of the fire department. Jack had been considering checking on the other two occupants of the car, but decided to wait for the rescue team since there was nothing much he'd be able to do for them anyway.

It took several minutes for the rescuers to get down to the car.

"Were any of you in the car?" one of them asked.

"Danny was," Daniel replied. "He seems to be all right except for some bruises and a sore arm."

"Come on. Let's get you three out of the way."

Two men took hold of the door so that Jack could move, then he, Daniel and Danny were led off to the side to enable the other rescuers to attend to Captain Hardwick and Tommy. Danny received a cursory examination. There was a large bruise on his right shoulder and upper arm where he'd struck the door, but there was no indications that it was fractured or dislocated.  
To be on the safe side, the EMT insisted on putting a cervical collar on the boy's neck just in case there was a neck injury that wasn't presenting itself yet. He was then put on a litter, which was hauled up the embankment with ropes. Daniel and Jack went up with it.

Sam's face went white when she saw Danny on the litter.

"He's okay, Carter," Jack assured her. "The collar's just a precaution. He was on the side of the car that wasn't damaged much. He's just banged up a bit."

In one of the two ambulances, Danny was checked out more thoroughly. He had a tight grip on Daniel's hand.

"Are Tommy and his dad going to die?" he asked, starting to cry.

"I don't know, Danny," Daniel replied, wishing that he had a more positive answer. He looked at the woman examining Danny. "Is he all right?"

"Yes, I believe so, though that shoulder is going to be pretty sore for a while. We'll want to take him to the hospital for x-rays, of course."

A third ambulance arrived just then, which meant that the one with Danny could go ahead and leave for the hospital. Jack and Sam told Daniel that they'd meet him there. Sam would drive Daniel's car.

Daniel kept hold of Danny's hand on the trip, stroking the boy's hair. He was trembling from reaction. He couldn't ever remember being more scared in his life than when he saw that car lying smashed on the hillside. God, if Danny had been killed. . . .

Daniel clamped his eyes shut, taking several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself.

When they got to the hospital, Daniel insisted on staying with Danny. The unrelenting grip the boy had on his hand made it clear that Danny wasn't going to let him go anywhere anyway. They had to let go of each other, though, so that the doctor and nurses could examine Danny. Daniel accompanied them when the boy was taken to get x-rays. Afterwards, they were taken back to the E.R. to await the results.

Danny and Daniel were alone in the room when Sam peeked her head in.

"Hey," she said, smiling. She came into the room.

"Are Tommy and Captain Hardwick okay?" Danny asked her.

"I'm not sure. They were both brought in just a little bit ago. Colonel O'Neill asked to be kept updated on them, and Janet's on her way."

"She's Captain Hardwick's doctor, too, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is, so she'll be able to find out how he is, and I'm sure she'll find out about Tommy, too."

Danny's eyes welled with tears. "I don't want them to die. Tommy's my friend, and Captain Hardwick is really nice. He took us to the movies and bought us popcorn and sodas, and, afterwards, he quoted some of the words from the movie, sounding just like the actors."

Daniel pulled the boy into his arms. "I know, Danny. I don't want them to die either, but I am so glad that you're all right. I was really scared."

Danny felt something wet on his head and looked up to see that Daniel was crying. "Don't cry, Daniel. I'm okay."

Daniel kissed his forehead. "I know," he said shakily. "I just love you so much that, if anything happened to you, I don't think I could take it."

Sam came over and put her arm around Daniel's shoulders, tears in her own eyes. He reached up and grabbed her hand.

The doctor returned around fifteen minutes later.

"The x-rays came out fine," he said. "We'd like to keep Danny here overnight just to be sure there are no hidden problems."

"No, I don't want to stay here. I want to go home," Danny said.

"I can keep an eye on him," Daniel told the doctor. "I've had more than one internal injury myself, not to mention head injuries, so I know what to look for."

The doctor nodded. "All right. Give him Children's Tylenol for the pain in his shoulder. I'd advise that you take him to see his primary care physician tomorrow."

"Doctor, do you know if Tommy and his dad are okay?" Danny asked.

"Those are the other two people who were in the car," Daniel explained. "Captain and Tommy Hardwick."

"I'm not the one treating them, but I know that the captain was taken to surgery. He suffered some internal injuries, likely a ruptured spleen. The child has a severe concussion and a fractured arm. There was also some blood loss from a deep cut in his forearm."

"I tried to use my jacket as a bandage to stop the bleeding," Danny told the doctor.

The man smiled. "That's very good. He might have lost even more blood if you hadn't done that."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"I believe so, though, with the head injury, we'll have to watch him closely. His doctor is still checking for other injuries."

Danny was discharged from the hospital. He, Daniel and Sam went out into the waiting room, where they found Jack. The man stood, walked over to Danny, knelt before him, and gave him a big hug.

"How are you doin', kiddo?" he asked.

"Okay. My arm and my cheek hurt."

Jack ran a fingertip very gently over the bruise on the boy's cheek. "Yeah, a few inches further over to the left, and you'd have quite a shiner there. Every man should have at least one black eye in his life."

"Have you?"

"Oh, yes, more than one, _way_ more than one." Jack got to his feet. "Fraiser's here. Captain Hardwick's been taken to surgery, and she's going to be in the operating room."

"I hope he's going to be okay," Danny said.

"Me too. Come on. Let's get you guys home."

Jack insisted that Sam do the driving in Daniel's car. The archeologist didn't argue, wanting to sit in back with Danny.

By the time they got to Daniel's place, Danny was asleep, his head resting under Daniel's arm, who was hold him close. He was carried inside, undressed and put to bed.

"Are you going to be okay, Daniel?" Sam asked when he came out into the living room.

"Yeah. I don't know how much sleep I'll get tonight, though. I'm concerned that he'll have a nightmare about this."

"Would you like one of us to stay?" Jack asked.

"No, that's not necessary. Thanks for the offer, though."

"Okay, but if you need something or just want to talk, you call, all right?"

"I will. Thanks."

Sam gave Daniel a hug and a kiss. "Will you be bringing Danny into the infirmary tomorrow?"

"Yes. I would have even if the doctor hadn't recommended it. I'm sure Janet would have insisted on it."

After Jack and Sam had left, Daniel got ready for bed. For a very long time, he lay in the dark, trying not to think about what could have happened tonight. It was after two a.m. before he finally fell into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

"Danny!" Daniel screamed. He sat straight up in bed, a broken sob catching in his throat. His face was wet with tears. And then a wave of nausea washed over him. He fled to the bathroom, where he threw up in the toilet. His heaving had just finished when he was startled by someone laying their hand on his back. He looked up to see Jack there, kneeling beside him.

"Jack? What . . . what are you doing here?"

"I figured you might need someone to talk to."

The colonel got Daniel a cool washcloth, which the archeologist used to wipe his face. A little shakily, he got to his feet.

"I'll be in the living room," Jack said.

Daniel rinsed his mouth out and took a drink. He found Jack sitting on the couch and settled beside him.

"Bad one?" Jack asked.

Daniel ran trembling hands over his face. "Yeah," he said roughly. "Danny was—" His voice broke off. He couldn't recount the horror of the dream, seeing Danny's lifeless, blood-covered body crushed in the twisted remains of the car.

"I know," Jack said, not needing to hear the details of the dream. He had known this was going to happen, just as it had to him after Charlie's death. The difference was that Daniel's nightmares were only that, dream visions that weren't real. The images in Jack's dreams had been all too real.

"I don't know what I'd have done if I lost him, Jack," Daniel whispered. "I know that, genetically, he's me, but I love him like he's my son."

Jack laid a hand on his friend's back, rubbing slightly. "I know, Daniel. We all love him very much. I was scared out of my mind when Carter called me after contacting 911 and told me what had happened. I broke every speed limit getting there, and, the whole time, I—" This time, it was Jack's voice that stopped abruptly.

Daniel looked at him. Jack was staring down at his clenched hands. "Jack?"

"I kept praying, 'Please, God, not him, too,'" Jack said in a low voice.

It hit Daniel what Jack's words meant. Charlie. Jack was thinking about Charlie.

"Believe me, Daniel, I had the nightmares, too, after Charlie, every time I closed my eyes. Reality was bad enough, but my imagination painted it even worse. I finally gave up trying to sleep and smoked a million cigarettes instead."

In all the years Daniel had known him, this was the first time that Jack had ever really talked about what it was like for him after Charlie died, except for that conversation they'd had after Daniel came back to Earth from Abydos. Of course, the archeologist had seen firsthand the kind of man Jack had turned into because of Charlie's death.

"I'm sorry," Daniel said, knowing it was inadequate.

Jack looked at him, the shadow of that old pain in his eyes. "It was a long time ago, and I finally learned to live with it, partly thanks to you, I might add. You may have a few more nightmares, Daniel, but it'll pass. The next time you do, just go into his room and watch him breathe. I'm betting it'll help."

Daniel felt very sad that Jack hadn't been able to do that with Charlie.

"Thank you, Jack," he said.

The colonel nodded. He got up from the couch. Daniel followed him to the door.

"So, you think you'll be okay?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

"The phone's sitting right beside my bed, if you need to call."

"Thanks. I'll call if I need to."

Jack gave him a nod and a smile, then headed out the door. Daniel went to Danny's room. He sat on the edge of the bed and, for long minutes, watched Danny breathe. Feeling better, he then went back to bed. A short while later, he was asleep, and no more dreams haunted him. 


	32. Chapter 32

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Thankfully, Danny didn't have a nightmare. Daniel had some good news for him when he woke up. Both Tommy and Captain Hardwick were going to be all right. Danny wanted to visit the boy in the hospital, and Daniel promised that they'd go there later, although he wasn't certain that the hospital would allow Danny into Tommy's room.

Danny got more than one hug when they got to the SGC. Everyone knew about the accident and were thankful that the little boy they all cared about was okay.

"How are you feeling today?" Janet asked him when they arrived at the infirmary.

"My arm hurt a lot. Daniel gave me some pain pills, and it feels better now."

Janet had him take off his shirt, and she examined the bruise. "Yes, that's quite a whopper you've got there. I'm afraid it's going to keep hurting for a while, but you were very lucky it wasn't worse." She looked at his cheek. "And you could easily have broken your cheekbone." She looked back and forth between the boy and Daniel. "So, anything else I should know about? Other aches or pains? Any other symptoms, like dizziness or nausea?"

They both shook their heads.

"That's good." Janet smiled down at Danny. "I'd say that you don't need my services anymore then, young man, although I'll want to check that arm again in a few days to see how it's doing."

"Danny, could you stay here a moment?" Daniel asked. Upon receiving a nod from the boy, he walked out of the room with Janet.

"So, how are _you_ doing?" she asked.

"To be honest, still a little shaky. I think that was one of the worst moments I've ever gone through, and that's saying a lot considering the stuff that's happened in my life."

"Trust me, Daniel, I do understand. I'll never forget how scared I was when Cassie got sick, and I almost lost her because of Nirrti's experiments. Nothing is more terrifying to a parent than to almost lose their child."

"I wanted to tell you that I think we need to reschedule that appointment with Doctor Woods. I don't think Danny would be up to it, and I _know_I wouldn't."

Janet nodded. "Yes, that's what I figured. I've already called her and told her what happened. She'll wait to hear back from us on what day would be good to reschedule it to. I'm thinking that a week would be good. That'll give Danny plenty of time to get over any nightmares he's having as a result of this."

"Actually, _he_ didn't have a nightmare."

Janet looked at him closely. "But you did?"

"Oh, yeah."

Janet touched his arm. "If you'd like to talk about it, my door is always open."

"Thanks. Jack and I have already talked. He . . . knows how I feel."

Janet's expression saddened. "Yes, he does."

Daniel took Danny to see General Hammond. The man hugged the boy for a long while.

"I am so very glad that you're all right, Danny," he said, his voice soft and low. "We all love you very much."

"I love you, too, Grandpa George."

The general kissed the boy's brow, then looked up at Daniel. "How are you doing, Daniel?"

"All right, sir, very thankful that it wasn't worse. I was glad to hear that Captain Hardwick and his son are going to be okay."

"Yes, the captain was quite lucky. He has you to thank for his life. The doctors say that, if he'd been without help for much longer, he'd have bled to death internally." Hammond looked at Danny. "I do believe that Sergeant Harriman would like to see you, Danny, as would a couple other people in the control room. You should go down there and say hi."

Danny went off to the control room, and Hammond turned his attention back to Daniel. "I didn't know how much he knew about what happened last night. Major Carter told me about it, that you knew something was wrong and were able to go right to Danny."

"Yeah. I can't really explain it. Up till now, I've just picked up little flashes of his thoughts. That one time, I saw things through his eyes for a split second. But this time was different, maybe because it was so intense. Not only did I see what he saw for an instant, I also actually felt his fear. As for being able to find him, it's hard to describe. I just somehow knew which way to go. Sir, I'd rather this not become known to a lot of people. I don't know if it would attract attention we'd rather not have, but I think it would be better to keep it a secret."

"Say no more, Daniel. There is no reason for me to report this to anyone. It has nothing to do with the Stargate Program."

"Thank you, sir."

Daniel and Danny's next stop was Sam's lab. The astrophysicist gave Danny a big hug, asking how he was. Figuring that Jack and Teal'c would like to see the boy, Daniel called the Jaffa's room. Teal'c said that he'd come immediately. Daniel then called Jack's office. Not finding him there, the archeologist had him paged over the P.A.

Teal'c did not hesitate to embrace Danny when he arrived. He had been filled in on everything by Sam and Jack. The colonel got there a few minutes later, and, like everyone else, hugged the boy. His eyes met Daniel's, silently asking how the younger man was doing. Daniel gave him a slight nod to let him know that he was all right.

"Danny, I've had the appointment with the psychologist rescheduled," Daniel said. "I figured that you wouldn't be up to doing that now. We'll be doing it next weekend instead, if that works out for the doctor."

"I think that's a good idea," Sam said.

Jack nodded. "I agree. And, since this means that we all have this weekend free, I'd say that a team dinner would be a great idea." He looked down at Danny, ruffling his hair. "We've got a lot to celebrate." The truth was that he felt a need to see Danny playing and laughing, being alive. This incident had disturbed Jack way more deeply than he'd let on even to Daniel. When he arrived at the scene of the crash and saw the car, it had almost been like those moments after he and Sara heard the gunshot, and he was running up the stairs to the bedroom, filled with that horrible, sick, all-consuming terror. When he got to the car and looked into Daniel's eyes, he saw the same black fear. Now, he wanted what he couldn't have with Charlie, the joy of seeing Danny alive and relatively well.

Daniel took Danny to see Tommy that afternoon. Fortunately, Danny was allowed to visit him. The injured boy's mother was with him.

"It's good to see that you're all right, Danny," she said with a warm smile. "I heard that you were just bruised up a bit." The woman looked up at Daniel.

"Hi, I'm Daniel Jackson."

She stood up. "Yes, I can clearly see the resemblance between you and your son." She held out her hand. "Jan Hardwick."

Daniel shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

Danny went over to the bed. Tommy appeared to be asleep. There was a bandage on his forehead and a lot of bruising on the left side of his face. His left arm was in a cast.

"Is he okay?" Danny asked worriedly, alarmed by the way his friend looked.

"Yes, honey, he'll be fine," Jan assured him. "It will just take a while for him to heal. He sleeps a lot right now. The doctors believe that he'll be ready to go home tomorrow, but I'm afraid that he's not going to be up to playing for a while yet."

"How is your husband?" Daniel asked.

"He's going to be all right." Jan met Daniel's eyes. "The doctors say that, if he hadn't been found when he was, he may not have made it. I don't know how it is that you found them or why you were even looking, and I'm guessing that, if I asked, you wouldn't tell me, but, whatever the reason, I want to thank you. You saved my husband's life."

Daniel dipped his head slightly in answer to her thanks. He looked down at Danny, running fingers through the boy's hair. "I'm just glad that I did find them."

* * *

The team dinner on Saturday ended up starting at three o'clock. Not surprisingly, the main pastime was playing with Danny. Because of his bruised shoulder, rough playing was out of the question, so it was all quieter stuff, mostly games. Jack taught Danny how to play poker. The boy then turned right around and beat him in their first game together . . . with a wee bit of help from Sam. Jack grumbled good-naturedly about beginner's luck. Danny had been delighted to see the Hounds and Jackals game that Teal'c brought over. He and Daniel played against the Jaffa and beat him soundly. All five of them got together for a rather boisterous game of Monopoly.

Though it was a beautiful evening, they decided against a barbeque and ate what Danny had told them he wanted for dinner: fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and peas with pearl onions. For dessert was chocolate cake and the leftover apple pie.

During the course of the meal, Danny found out the full story of Daniel sensing the accident and somehow knowing where to go. The boy thought the whole thing was very cool.

They were now outside, enjoying the night air. Daniel, Sam and Danny were lying on the grass, the boy between the two adults. They were playing a game that Daniel's mother had created, where they'd make up their own constellations and named them.

Jack watched the three of them. He smiled when he saw Daniel and Sam share a kiss over Danny's head. They looked like a family. Judging by how Sam had been dressed the day of the accident, Jack figured out that she and Daniel had been on a date, taking advantage of the fact that Danny was going to be spending the night with the Hardwicks. He didn't know how far their relationship had progressed, though they seemed to be completely at ease with public displays of affection, something that some couples never felt. He had no doubt that they really would be a family one of these days.

It was past Danny's bedtime before everyone decided it was time to call it a night. The boy was put to bed, though he really didn't want to go, having had too much fun that day.

"Are you sure you don't want some help with those dishes?" Jack asked, looking at the pile in the sink.

"No, I'm just going to rinse them off and leave them for tomorrow," Daniel replied. "Thanks for today, guys. After what happened, Danny and I really needed to have some fun."

"We were happy to give it to you," Jack responded. He looked at his watch. "Well, I guess we should get going. Gotta get Teal'c back to the base so that he can get his beauty sleep. You heading off, too, Carter?"

"Yeah, in a few minutes, sir."

"Well, good night, then, you two. We'll see you on Monday."

The colonel and the Jaffa left. Daniel headed into the kitchen and tossed the empty beer bottles on the counter into the recycling bin.

"How are you doing, Daniel?" Sam asked, joining him. "We haven't really had a chance to talk since the accident. I know how scared you were."

"I'm all right. It really shook me, though. It made me really see how I could suddenly lose him. If that car had slid the opposite way, and it had been the passenger side that hit the trees, it could be Danny lying in the hospital . . . or worse. Being a parent can be great, but it can also be terrifying and heartbreaking. I really understand now what it was like for Jack when he lost Charlie. In those minutes when I was going down to the car, I kept seeing Danny dead in my mind, and . . . and it was one of the worst feelings I've ever had. I don't ever want to go through anything like that again."

Sam rubbed his back. "I know. It was a pretty horrible moment for me, too. I felt so helpless. There wasn't anything I could do except call 911 and the colonel, then wait for help. Come on. Let's go back outside."

They went back out into the backyard and sat on the grass, looking up at the stars. Daniel chuckled as he thought of their earlier game.

"I remember some of the crazy names Mom and I gave our made-up constellations. That was a fun time. I realized a while ago that, since they died, I've seldom had fun. Oh, I've had good times, times when I laughed. That was particularly true during the year I was on Abydos. But having real fun, just letting loose and . . . well, playing was something I didn't have in my life, not until Danny. Less than two months, and I have laughed and smiled more in this time than I have in . . . in I don't know how long. A very long time."

"I'm glad," Sam said. "It makes me happy to see you smile and laugh. There were so many times that I wanted to see you smile, to see joy in your eyes. It hurt almost never seeing it that last year or so before you ascended."

Daniel looked at her. "That was a bad time in my life, but it's in the past. For the first time in a very long time, I feel like I could not ask for anything more that what I have now." He cupped her cheek, his eyes filled with love. "And you are one of the biggest reasons for that."

Daniel lowered his lips to Sam's in a soft, sweet kiss. They drew apart a few inches, eyes searching, then their mouths came together again. Daniel's arms wrapped around Sam's waist, drawing her close. Lips parted, letting tongues inside. They took complete possession of each other's mouths, staking their claim in an ever-deepening search.

Their hunger for each other took over, immersing them in fire. The kiss became ravenous, hands caressing, touching, grasping. Daniel lowered Sam to the ground, his body coming to rest partially on top of her. His glasses began sliding, and he ripped them off, not caring where they ended up. The cool night air touched Sam's skin as Daniel's fingers released the buttons of her blouse. And then his mouth was there, back to the place he'd tasted before. This time, Sam did not stop him as he lowered her bra, his lips descending upon the bared flesh.

At last, his lips left her breasts and moved downward to the soft expanse of her stomach. A button was released, a zipper lowered, and Daniel was pushing aside the flaps of her trousers to reveal still more skin. Sam shuddered, her respiration coming in short pants.

Her ability to think rapidly escaping her, Sam managed to get Daniel's shirt mostly off. With fumbling fingers, she unfastened his pants. Daniel rose, bringing his mouth crashing down upon hers. Both of their shirts and Sam's bra were off a moment later, the grass cool against the heated skin of Sam's back. And then came the rest of their clothes.

Lost in the feelings rushing through them, they made love with passion that grew hotter by the second. They reached the top together and fell over in a blazing conflagration of ecstasy, the breath seizing in their lungs as they tumbled out of control into the inferno.

Gasping and trembling in the aftermath, Daniel and Sam lay still in recovery. As his respiration and heart rate slowed, Daniel began placing soft kisses all over Sam's face. He gazed down into her eyes.

"Sam," he whispered huskily, lost for words to describe how he felt.

"I know," she said. "I feel the same way." In the past, Sam had heard some women talking about the feeling of utter joy and fulfillment that could come from making love, but she had never experienced it until now. She felt like crying, but held back the tears. She saw a hint of wetness in Daniel's eyes as well.

Daniel lowered his head, nuzzling her hair and placing a few kisses on her neck. He smiled against her sweat-dampened skin.

"We go on three dates, wanting this at the end of each one and coming really close one of those times," he said.

"But something always got in the way."

"And, now, here we are, after a team dinner, lying naked in the backyard."

"With the crickets and various other insects. Thankfully, no mosquitoes."

Daniel met her eyes, his smile soft and full of love. "And I can't think of a more perfect moment it could have happened."

"Me neither."

Daniel lifted himself off Sam and rolled over onto his back. She snuggled up under his chin, a hand resting on his chest. His eyes went back to the stars above, which appeared to be winking down at them. This was the single happiest moment of his entire life. He felt almost delirious with joy. He wanted to capture this moment and hold onto it forever.

A small shiver from Sam made him look down at her. He realized that, now that their bodies were cooling, the chill of the night air was a bit uncomfortable.

"Let's go inside."

After finding Daniel's glasses, they gathered their scattered clothing. They put on their underwear, but didn't bother with anything else. They both knew without asking that Sam would not be going home tonight.

After using the bathroom, they removed their undergarments and slipped beneath the covers of Daniel's bed, going back into each other's arms.

"When I bought this bed, I dreamed about the night I'd share it with you," Daniel said.

"I thought about that, too, when I saw it."

Just then, Daniel thought of something. "I'm sorry, Sam. Things happened so suddenly that I didn't think to ask if you wanted to use protection."

"I don't think we need it. We both know that there's no danger of disease."

"And the other thing? I think I heard somebody say that all women on SG teams use birth control for the sake of safety, just in case something happens on a mission, so I figured that the same would be true for you."

Sam nodded. "Right now, I'm using the Ortho Evra patch. See?" She pulled down the covers and twisted around to reveal a flesh-colored patch on her left butt cheek. Daniel brushed his fingers across it. He hadn't noticed it in the heat of their lovemaking.

"I was taking Depo-Provera shots for a while, but there are serious health risks in doing that for more than two years," she explained, "and the Lunelle injections made me gain weight."

Daniel pulled her back into his arms. "There's something I should tell you. A while ago, I had myself tested. I'm not sterile, Sam. I'm okay."

Sam smiled in delight. "Daniel, that's wonderful news."

He gazed at her intently. "I want to have children with you, Sam. I want a family with you."

"I want that, too, Daniel, very much."

They came together in a kiss that soon became more. With soft whispers and muted sounds of passion, they made love a second time. Bathed within the glow that followed, they slipped joyfully into sleep.

* * *

It was about an hour before dawn when Daniel awoke. For an instant, he thought that his and Sam's lovemaking had been another dream. And then he felt her warm, naked body against his. He opened his eyes and looked at her. He was spooned behind her, one of his arms around her waist, the other draped over her ribs, a hand cupping the soft, round mound of her breast. This was, without a doubt, one of the best possible ways to wake up in the morning. Only one way could be better. He set about waking Sam up in that way, kissing and stroking her body until she came awake with a moan.

Rising up a little, he turned Sam's head and lowered his mouth onto hers in a heated kiss. Daniel's lips returned to Sam's neck, Feeling her passion rise, he joined their bodies again. They moved together with unrestrained passion, climbing rapidly toward their peak. With a shout, they both climaxed, Daniel driving Sam over the edge before following her.

Chests heaving, they lay quietly in the afterglow.

"That's my very favorite way to wake up," Sam finally purred.

Daniel ran a hand up and down her body. "Next time, you can wake _me_ up that way."

"Deal."

Sam turned around in Daniel's arms, and they shared a long kiss.

"Mmm. Good morning," she said.

Daniel stroked a finger across her cheek. "Good morning. I'd suggest that we stay in bed all day and see what mischief we can get into, but Danny will probably be waking up in another three hours or so."

Sam grinned. "Then I guess we'll just have to see what mischief we can get into in a couple of hours."

Daniel grinned as well. "I really like the way you think, Major Carter."

"I figured you would, Doctor Jackson."

By the time Daniel and Sam left the bed two hour later, they'd gotten to know each other's bodies in very great detail. Sam had always suspected that Daniel would be good with his hands, and she'd been proven right. He also confirmed that his oral talents weren't limited to kissing. His previous attention to her body with his mouth had already told her this, but, now, her body was singing from what that mouth had done to her. And she'd been no slouch in that department either. It hadn't been easy for Daniel to keep the volume of his cries down as Sam pleasured him almost into unconsciousness.

They showered together, managing to keep their hands to themselves – well, _mostly_, that is. Nobody could blame Daniel for wanting to be the one to wash certain parts of Sam's body, and there was no way that she could resist washing his back and tight derriere.

They were both famished and, after dressing, got busy on fixing a big breakfast. The meal was nearly ready when Danny came out to the kitchen in his pajamas. He smiled when he saw Sam.

"Did you sleep over?" he asked her.

The adults shared a look.

"Yes, Danny, I slept over," she replied, managing not to blush.

"From now on, Sam will probably be sleeping over quite a bit, Danny," Daniel said. He looked at Sam searchingly. "That is if she wants to."

Sam's smile gave the answer even before she spoke. "Oh, yes. I definitely want to." Her smile turned mischievous. "I really like sleeping over."

"Cool!" Danny said. "Will you be moving in with us?"

"Ummm, not yet, Danny."

"Will you be sleeping in the other bedroom or with Daniel in his bed? Daniel said that people who love each other romantically sleep in the same bed."

That did make the adults blush.

Daniel cleared his throat. "Uh, yes, Sam will be sleeping with me in my bed."

"Okay. I guess it's good you have a great big bed, then."

Their faces flaming, Daniel and Sam quickly turned back to the food preparation.

"How's your shoulder?" Daniel asked the boy. "Do you need a pain pill?"

"No, it's okay."

Daniel looked at him over his shoulder. "Are you sure?" Danny's hesitation gave him the answer. He got the Children's Tylenol and gave one to his clone.

"Danny, I don't want you to hide it from me when you're hurting," he said. "All right?"

"It really wasn't hurting all that much, not as much as yesterday."

"Even so, if it's hurting enough that you'd like to have a pain pill, let me know."

"Okay."

"All right, go get dressed. Breakfast will be done soon."

When Daniel returned to the stove, he noticed that Sam was smiling slightly. "What's the smile for?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about how much he's like you."

"What do you mean?"

Sam looked at him. "Shall I count the times that you've hidden how much pain you're in from Janet and everyone else?"

"That's different. I'm an adult and can take care of myself."

Saying nothing in reply to that, Sam turned back to the sausages she was cooking, a smile still on her face.

"You do realize that it's probably not going to be all that much longer before Danny's . . . educated enough to know what's going on in your bedroom when I stay here," she said. "Once he starts going to school, he'll begin learning things about that, especially if he's put in the fourth grade."

"Yes, I know, but I'd like him to hold onto his innocence for as long as possible. I can't recall how old I was when I found out about sex, a lot older than kids these days, that's for sure."

While they were eating breakfast, Daniel suddenly thought of something. He turned to his clone. "Um, Danny, remember our agreement that, if you have a really bad nightmare, you're supposed to come talk to me?"

"Yeah."

"Well, now that Sam will be sleeping over sometimes, I'd like you to knock first and wait for me to answer the door. All right?"

"Sure. Why the difference?"

Daniel scrambled for an answer. "Uh . . . that way, I can talk with you out in the living room, and Sam can sleep."

"Oh. Okay."

The adults exchanged a glance, thinking that this might get awkward sometimes.

"Oh, and one more thing," Daniel said, knowing that, if he didn't say this, Danny would innocently spill the beans that Daniel and Sam were sleeping together. "It would be best if you didn't mention to anyone that Sam is sleeping over sometimes. This is kind of a secret."

"Why is it a secret?"

"Um, that's hard to explain. It's just something that we don't want people talking about."

"Okay. I won't tell anyone."

Daniel smiled. "Thanks."

"Hey, I've got an idea," Sam said. "How about if we go to the zoo today?"

"Yeah!" Danny replied. "Can we go to the one in Denver? We've already seen the one here. The one in Denver is a lot bigger."

"Sure," Daniel replied. "I've never seen the Denver Zoo."

"I have," Sam said. "Janet and I took Cassie there years ago. It's a nice zoo. We'll need to stop by my place first, though, so that I can change."

A while later, as they all climbed into Daniel's car, the archeologist couldn't stop smiling, thinking that it already felt like he, Danny and Sam were a family.


	33. Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Daniel hadn't had this much fun at a zoo since the time his parents took him to one. It wasn't because of the animals, but, rather, the company. The two adults enjoyed watching Danny look at all the creatures. What they enjoyed even more, however, were the cuddles and kisses they shared. As they were sitting on a bench at Duck Lake, watching Danny studying all the birds on and around the water, Daniel teasingly said that anyone looking at him and Sam would think they were newlyweds, if it wasn't for Danny.

Sam wrapped her arms around his waist. "Hmm. Newlyweds, huh?" She leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "I'm sure you know what else newlyweds do a lot of."

Daniel gave her a sultry smile. "As a matter of fact, I do," he replied in a low voice. "And we will certainly be getting back to that tonight."

Sam also smiled. "A thought occurred to me a little while ago."

"What thought is that?"

"I'm very glad there's a six-foot-high wooden fence around your backyard."

Daniel chuckled. "So am I. Despite the fact that I've studied and spent time in cultures that have a pretty uninhibited viewpoint about sex, including sex in less than private places, I think that giving my new neighbors a peepshow is beyond what I'd be willing to do. You know, there was a time when I would have felt uncomfortable about doing what we did even _with_ the fence, but that was before I spent a year on Abydos with Sha're. There were many times when the only thing separating us from several dozen other Abydonians was a piece of material. It took some time getting used to making love with Sha're when I knew that anyone passing by could hear us." He grinned. "I suppose this is a good thing since, sooner or later, _Danny's_ liable to hear us."

Sam grinned as well. "And are you going to be the one to explain what the strange noises were that he heard from the bedroom?"

Daniel leaned into her. "What strange noises would those be, Major Carter?" he whispered against her lips.

The new lovers shared a kiss that was slightly more passionate than the parents passing by with their kids may have been happy about them doing in public.

Daniel, Sam and Danny remained at the zoo until it closed, then headed back to Colorado Springs. They ate dinner at a fast food place, then went to Sam's place, where she put a change of clothes and a few other things in an overnight bag.

That evening, the three played charades, a game Daniel had played only once before in his life. They spent more time laughing than they did playing the game.

"I wish you lived with us all the time," Danny said to Sam after the game was over. The comment made her and Daniel share a long look.

When Danny's bedtime came, he insisted that he didn't need to be put to bed, that he could do it himself. Daniel smiled at the declaration. It was yet another sign that Danny was getting back to normal. The archeologist had been noticing that, except when he was scared or upset, the boy's speech patterns and demeanor were also returning to that of a normal eight-year-old, except that he was a great deal more well-mannered and less rambunctious than the average boy his age. He was also still more interested in books than he was in toys and playing, which was no surprise to Daniel since he had been the very same way, even before his parents died. Daniel did want Danny to keep that love of books and learning, but he also wanted the boy to experience all the joys of being a kid, something Daniel himself did not have.

Sam got started on the dishes while Daniel was putting the trash out in the garbage can. When he came back in, he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and began kissing her neck, which made it very hard for Sam to concentrate on the dishes. And when his hands found their way under her bra and began doing incredible things to her breasts, the dishes were soon forgotten.

Craning her neck around, Sam pulled Daniel's mouth down to hers in a deep, passionate kiss. He turned her around and pulled her against him. When he began tugging her top up, Sam dragged her lips from his.

"What if Danny wakes up and comes out here?" she asked. She let out a little squeak of surprise as Daniel suddenly scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. He kicked the door shut, then fell with her onto the bed.

"Better to be safe than sorry," he said with a grin before swooping down on her mouth.

Daniel and Sam didn't get much sleep that night. Miraculously, they managed to keep the noise level down, though it wasn't easy sometimes.

The alarm clock went off way too early for them the next morning. Groaning, Daniel shut it off.

"I much prefer being woken up the way I was yesterday," Sam said.

"Yeah, me too."

The astrophysicist yawned hugely. "I guess this will teach us not to act like newlyweds on a work night."

Daniel pulled her into his arms. "We'll just make lots and lots of coffee."

Sam smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Sounds like a plan to me." They shared a long kiss.

"Good morning, lover," Sam said against Daniel's lips in a husky voice that made him wish they didn't have to go to work.

"Good morning," he replied, skimming his hand up and down her body. "I have to say that I'm rather disappointed."

"Why's that?"

"I didn't get awakened this morning the way that I woke you up yesterday."

"Yes, you're right. I'm afraid that might have to wait until our next day off." Sam gave him a sexy smile. "However," she crawled on top of him, "I think there might be just enough time for a little hanky panky."

"Ya think?"

"I do."

Grinning, Daniel pulled her lips down to his.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time for more than a short, intense round of making out. Looking at the clock, they saw that, if they didn't get a move on soon, they'd be late for work. They were both wishing that they could call in sick.

"You know what?" Sam said.

"What?"

"I think I'm going to start hating Mondays."

Daniel grinned and chuckled. "We don't always get the weekend off, you know. Sometimes, it's other days."

"Well, whatever day it is that follows a day off, I think I'm going to hate it, if I'm here with you. All I'm going to want to do is stay in bed with you."

"Alas, even if we didn't have to work, that would not be an option." Daniel looked at the clock. "There's a certain little boy in the other bedroom that would make that impossible."

After he was showered and dressed, Daniel got Danny up as Sam started breakfast.

A while later, seeing the two adults yawning over their morning coffee, Danny asked, "Didn't you sleep good?"

Daniel and Sam froze in the act of bringing their cups to their lips. They exchanged a glance.

"Uh . . . Sam and I were up really late," the archeologist replied, desperately hoping that the boy didn't ask why.

He got his wish, and Danny didn't ask any more questions.

After a couple cups of coffee, they both felt pretty awake. Sam headed home to take care of some things before going to work. Walking into her bedroom, she looked at the bed and smiled. One of these days, she was going to get Daniel in _her_ bed. It was going to have to be on a day that they didn't have to work the next morning and didn't have to worry about picking Danny up from someplace. Once she got him in her bed, she intended to keep him there all night and a good part of the next day.

Sam was amazed by how incredibly alive Daniel made her feel. She'd had other lovers. Heck, she was once engaged. Yet not one of them made her feel like Daniel did.

Sam's thoughts turned to her father. Would he be happy about the relationship? She knew that he liked Daniel, but it was one thing to like someone as a friend and quite another to like them as a boyfriend for your daughter. Being a former military man, he might have concerns about them being teammates. She hoped that he would be all right with the relationship. She didn't want there to be any tension or bad feelings between him and Daniel.

Daniel and Sam were all right at work throughout the morning, but by mid-afternoon, the lack of sleep began catching up to them again.

It was three o'clock when Jack visited Sam's office to find her sitting at her worktable, eyes closed, head propped up on her hand.

"Burning the midnight oil again last night, Carter?" he asked, startling her.

"What? Oh. Sorry, sir. Um . . . yeah, I didn't get a lot of sleep." Sam got up and poured herself another cup of coffee.

"You know what they say about all work and no play," Jack said.

"I play, sir." Sam blushed. "I-I mean, I don't work all the time."

"Yes, you're right about that, at least nowadays. Actually, I'm quite proud of you. Daniel, too. You two have finally realized that your entire lives don't revolve around work."

"Yes, sir." Wanting to steer Jack away from this topic, which was in danger of going in a direction that would not be good, Sam asked, "Was there something that you needed?"

"Actually, Hammond was wondering about that doohickey SG-11 brought back. I said I could ask you about it."

"From what I can tell, whatever it was, it's no longer functional. I think the power is completely drained. Lieutenant Simmons is running some scans on it right now. We should know more in a couple of hours."

"Okay. I'll let him know." Jack studied her. "You should go home early, get a decent night's sleep."

"I will, sir. Thank you."

Jack headed up one level and went to Daniel's office. What he saw there made him halt in the doorway. Daniel was in almost the same position as Sam had been, except that he looked like he was actually asleep, his mouth slightly open.

Eyebrows rising, Jack looked at Danny questioningly.

"He didn't sleep much last night," the boy explained.

"Yes, I kind of gathered that."

And that's when Jack figured it out. Oh ho! Well, well, well. So, Daniel and Sam _were_ playing last night.

Keeping the smile off his face, Jack asked, "Was Sam over at your house last night?" When Danny didn't reply, Jack studied his expression, which was the same as when Jack had been trying to get him to admit that Daniel and Sam were romantically involved. "Danny?"

"I can't tell you."

"Ah, another secret, huh?"

The boy nodded.

"That's okay. I've got this one figured out as well. I'm thinking that Sam spent the night at your house. I'm also guessing it was the first time she's done that."

Danny didn't respond for several seconds, then he shook his head. That surprised Jack.

"She didn't spend the night?" he asked, watching the boy closely. Danny's reaction led to him making another guess. "It wasn't the first time?"

Danny decided it was okay to answer that one since Jack had already figured out most of it. "No, she slept over Saturday night, too. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone."

"Well, I figured it out anyway, so it's okay that you told me. I won't let Daniel and Sam know that you said anything. In fact, don't tell them that I know. I'll . . . speak to them about it later."

"Okay. Uncle Jack, why don't Sam and Daniel want anybody to know that Sam's sleeping over at our house? All Daniel said was that it was something they don't want people talking about."

Oh, boy. Think, Jack. "Uh, it's just that Daniel and Sam want it kept private. It isn't anyone's business that Sam is sleeping with . . . is sleeping over at your house. That's something private between the two of them."

"And me."

"Uhhh . . . yeeeaah, and you."

"And, now, you, too."

Jack put on a smile. "Hey. How about we go get some ice cream?"

Danny grinned. "Okay. Should I wake Daniel up and see if he wants to go?"

"Nah, let him sleep. I'll write him a note and tell him where you are."

On a piece of paper, Jack scribbled, "Hey, Sleeping Beauty. I've taken Danny to get ice cream." As an afterthought, he added, "P.S. How interesting that Carter seems to be in the same condition as you."

Smiling, Jack set the note up against the computer monitor, wishing that he could see the look on Daniel's face when he read it.

* * *

Jack would most likely have burst into laughter if he could have seen the expression Daniel got when he awoke about fifteen minutes later and saw the note. When he first woke up, he wondered where Danny was, then he saw the piece of paper propped up against the monitor. Recognizing Jack's handwriting, he read it.

_'Oh, crap!'_ was his next thought. He had no doubt that Jack had figured out the reason for Daniel and Sam being so tired. Daniel wasn't foolish enough to believe that Jack would never have guessed that they were sleeping together if this hadn't happened, but this was _so_ not the way he'd have wanted that revelation to be made. It was certain that Jack would get in several digs about this. At least Daniel didn't have to worry that the colonel would blab to anyone else. He was not the kind of man to do something like that.

Daniel picked up the phone and called Sam.

"Jack knows," he said when she answered the phone.

"What? How?"

"He found me napping in my chair, and, apparently, he must have found you in somewhat the same condition."

"Damn. Yes, I was half-asleep at my worktable when he came in a little while ago. So, what are we going to do?"

"Nothing right now. I'm sure we'll have to put up with some teasing and thinly veiled remarks, but I'm hoping that Jack will have at least some tact and not push it too far." Daniel paused. "Um, it might be a good idea if you didn't come over tonight."

He didn't have to say anything more. Sam understood and agreed. Though she had confidence that they could manage to sleep in the same bed without having sex, the temptation would still be there. Right now, that facet of their relationship was so new that they really were like a pair of newlyweds addicted to each other. Sam really couldn't blame herself for feeling that way. The last two nights had been incredible. All she could say was that Sha're had been one very lucky lady to have Daniel in her bed every night for that year. Sam was looking forward to when she could, too.

"Yes, I think you're right," she said, "although it's going to be lonely."

"Yes, it is."

"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, if we don't bump into each other here."

"Yeah. Talk to you later."

Daniel hung up the phone and sat staring at nothing for a few minutes. He abruptly got to his feet and left the office. A couple of minutes later, he was entering Sam's lab.

"Daniel?" she said questioningly.

The archeologist took her hand and led her over to the corner of the room directly under the closed circuit camera, where it couldn't see them. He then pulled her into his arms and proceeded to nearly kiss the life out of her. Sam did not protest.

Quite some time later, they parted, breathing heavily.

"I decided that if I wasn't going to get to have you in my arms tonight, I was at least going to get a kiss to tide me over," Daniel said with a smile.

"Great idea, but I think I need a second one just to make sure I last through the night."

Daniel's smile grew. "Absolutely."

The second kiss almost got out of hand and left them wishing that there was a nearby closet.

Reluctantly, they separated. Sam returned to her desk.

"You know, we really shouldn't be doing that here. If General Hammond caught us, he'd give us a lecture about unprofessional conduct while on duty."

"Yes, you're probably right, but I don't think I could make it through a day without kissing you."

"Me neither."

The two lovers looked at each other.

"Boy, we've got it bad, don't we," Daniel remarked.

"Oh, yeah. Big time."

He gave her a light kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow. I'll be dreaming about you."

Sam sighed. "So will I."

When Jack came back with Danny a while later, he gave Daniel a knowing smirk. The archeologist chose to ignore him.

"Did you enjoy the ice cream, Danny?" he asked.

"Uh huh. Sergeant Gonzalez gave me some chocolate syrup for it."

Daniel smiled. The sergeant must be on duty in the kitchen today. The woman was nuts about Danny and would probably spoil him shamelessly, if she had the opportunity. Perhaps the next time Daniel and Sam were in need of a babysitter, she'd agree to watch Danny. Of course, she'd probably smother him with affection.

"Did you enjoy your nap?" Jack asked, the little smile back on his face.

Okay, here was the start of it. "Yes, Jack," Daniel replied. "I'm feeling much more awake now."

"Good, good. Gotta keep up that energy level, you know."

Daniel smiled inside, deciding the best way to handle this was to play along. "Oh, I agree. I definitely need lots of energy. Can't let myself get rundown, what with _missions_ coming up and all."

To say that Jack was surprised by Daniel's response would be an understatement. He'd been expecting the younger man to get all flustered and embarrassed, yet here Daniel was, tossing back retorts with cool confidence.

"Of course, that goes for Sam, too," Daniel added with a slightly raised eyebrow and a meaningful look.

Jack cleared his throat. "Um, yeah. Well, gotta get back to work. Try to get more sleep tonight."

"I will. Bye, Jack."

Daniel turned away from the colonel, focusing his attention on the computer screen. A tiny smile came to his lips a moment later. Perhaps this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

* * *

Sam dropped into the infirmary on her way down to the locker room to change into her civvies.

"Hey, Janet. I'm almost out of patches. Could I get some more?" she asked.

"Sure, I'll go get some."

The doctor came back a minute later with a box of the birth control patches.

"Are these still working out well for you?" she asked.

"Uh huh, a lot more convenient than the Pill. When you're on a mission that lasts more than a day, having to take a pill can be pretty inconvenient."

"Yes, I should imagine so. Most of the other female SG team members are on the patch, taking shots, or have an insert."

Just then, a big yawn caught Sam. Janet stared at her closely.

"Tired?"

"Uh . . . yeah, a little."

"Were you working on your day off?" Janet asked disapprovingly.

"No."

"You didn't sleep well, then?"

Sam didn't reply.

"Sam?"

"Um . . . could we go to your office?"

"Of course."

They went to the office. Janet studied Sam from behind her desk, waiting for the other woman to speak.

"Daniel and I made love for the first time this weekend," Sam finally confessed.

Janet smiled very slightly. "And?"

"And . . . wow."

"Wow?"

"Most definitely."

"That good, huh?"

Sam smiled. "Oh, yeah. I've had more than one lover in my life, but it's never been like that, not ever." She laughed. "We were acting like newlyweds."

"Ah ha. So, _that's_ the reason for being tired, eh?"

"Yep. If it hadn't been for Danny, I have no doubt that we'd have spent a big part of the weekend in bed. Sometimes, it's really hard keeping our hands off each other." Sam's smile got bigger. "I have a sneaking suspicion that, if I wasn't on birth control, it wouldn't be long before I was pregnant."

Janet didn't respond right away. "Sam, this is something that we haven't discussed before, but I guess now is a good time. Did you know that Daniel had himself tested to see if he was infertile?"

"Yes. I knew that he was concerned about it because Sha're never conceived with him."

"When he approached me about it, we talked about you two having children. How do you feel about having kids?"

"You know, that's an interesting question. Up until now, if you had asked me if I wanted kids, I'd have had to think about it. Yes, a part of me has always wanted children. I was really tempted to adopt Cassie. But having a baby would change a lot of things in my life, especially my career. I'd probably have to leave SG-1. I might even have to resign or, at the very least, take a long maternity leave until the baby was old enough to put in daycare."

"And now?"

"Now, the thought of having Daniel's baby makes me smile. I want to have children with him."

Janet nodded. "Sam, I'm sure you know that, as a woman gets older, the risks involved in having children begin to increase. Also, the chances of getting pregnant decrease. From the age of thirty-five, it becomes harder to conceive, especially for women forty and older. Now, lots of women in their late thirties and beyond do succeed in having children, but it's something to keep in mind."

Sam stared at the desktop, her stomach tightening. "You're saying that I may not be able to have a baby."

"No, I'm saying that it may not be as easy as it would be if you were several years younger. You're strong and healthy, Sam, and it's far from being too late." Seeing the look that was still on Sam's face, Janet reached across the desk and gave her hand a squeeze. "Hey, don't worry yourself sick about this, Sam. When the time comes that you and Daniel decide to have children, we'll talk about this some more. If it begins to look like you might need some help conceiving, there are things that can be done."

Despite Janet's assurances, when Sam left the infirmary a short while later, she was still worried that she may not be able to give Daniel the children that they both wanted.

* * *

When Daniel and Sam agreed to spend the night apart, the reason had been to get a full night's sleep, but it didn't work out that way.

At one a.m., Daniel found himself still wide awake. He'd been tossing and turning for the past two hours, trying to find a comfortable position and get to sleep. The problem was that his arms were empty.

_'This is stupid,'_ he thought to himself. _'It was only two days. How can I be having trouble sleeping without her when I've only slept **with** her for two days?'_ He had once spent a weekend with Sarah, yet had no trouble sleeping alone the following Monday. But then, he hadn't been crazy in love with Sarah. Whenever _they_ made love, he hadn't felt like their souls were merging along with their bodies. What he was experiencing with Sam was deeper than anything he'd ever felt before, even with Sha're.

"Boy, I really do have it bad," Daniel said aloud to the empty room. "I really wish you were here, Sam."

With a loud sigh, Daniel closed his eyes and again attempted to relax. He filled his mind with thoughts of Sam, imagining her there in his arms. He'd hold her close, placing soft kisses on her face and neck. He'd draw the smell of her hair deep into his lungs. Her naked body would fit perfectly with his, like two matching puzzle pieces. They would make love gently, slowly. Then they'd fall asleep in each other's arms to awaken the next morning feeling happy and content.

It was with those thoughts that Daniel at last found sleep. 


	34. Chapter 34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Daniel and Danny had just gotten to Daniel's office the next morning when Sam came to visit.

"Hey," she greeted. She came up and gave Daniel a kiss. "I missed you," she whispered in his ear.

"I missed you, too," he whispered back.

"Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Nope. We were just about to go get something."

"I'll join you, then."

It wasn't long after they'd taken their seats at a table when Jack showed up, tray in hand.

"Hello, you three," he said as he set his tray down next to Danny's.

"Hello, sir," Sam greeted.

"Hi, Uncle Jack," Danny said.

Jack ruffled Danny's hair. "Hey, I've got some good news for you, kiddo. Captain Hardwick was released from the hospital this morning. It's going to be quite a while before he's completely healed, but he's definitely on the mend."

"That's great news," Daniel responded. "We'll have to go visit him and Tommy one of these days."

"And how are _you_ all doing?" Jack focused his attention on the two adults. "You two look a bit more rested." He smiled slightly.

"We're fine, Jack," Daniel replied.

"My arm doesn't hurt much anymore," Danny said.

"That's good," Jack responded. "So, you'll be swinging on the monkey bars again in no time." He turned back to Daniel. "So, is that psychiatrist coming this weekend?"

"Psychologist, and, yes, she is. She'll be here on Friday to talk with me first. I'm betting that she'll want to talk to you guys as well."

"About me?" Danny asked.

"Um, yeah, so that we can tell her about stuff that's happened with you. She needs to know all about what's been going on."

"Does she know that I'm a clone?"

"Yes, she does. She was given clearance to know that. She would also have been told a bit about the Stargate Program, but I don't know how much, so you need to be careful about what you say. Don't tell her anything about the Goa'uld or our missions. And definitely don't say anything about my ascension. She wouldn't know that."

"Okay." The boy frowned.

"What's wrong, kiddo?" Jack asked.

"I don't want to talk to her."

"I don't blame you there, but I'm betting that she can make you feel better."

"And I'll be right there the whole time," Daniel told the boy. "You won't be alone with her. I can understand why you wouldn't want to talk to a stranger about how you're feeling, but this is her job. She's talked to a lot of children whose parents have died. She'll know what to do to make you feel better about everything and help get rid of those nightmares."

"I hate the nightmares."

"Me too."

* * *

On Friday afternoon, Daniel met with Doctor Meredith Woods in his office. Danny was with Teal'c.

Though he never said so, Daniel had been concerned about the therapy sessions, specifically about the doctor who would be performing them. He had worried that Doctor Woods would be the same as the child psychologist who came to see him after his parents' death.

It didn't take him long to see that Meredith Woods was wasn't anything like that woman. She greeted Daniel warmly, with a genuine smile. In her early thirties, she appeared to have Native American blood in her.

First, Meredith explained how much she already knew about the case. She had been filled in about the catatonia, the flashbacks, the panic attacks, the nightmares Danny woke up screaming from, the first few days when he wouldn't speak. Daniel clarified and confirmed a few things for her, going into more detail.

"In the beginning, he was acting a lot younger than normal," he told her. "He tended to cling to me a lot. Janet said that was common."

Meredith nodded. "Yes, it is. I've seen children Danny's age sucking their thumb after a severe emotional trauma. It's only if those behavioral changes last an extended length of time that you need to be concerned."

"The panic attacks always had to do with me," Daniel continued, "fearing that something bad had happened to me. There was an . . . incident very shortly after we found Danny. My arm got cut up a bit, and there was quite a bit of blood. Danny saw the blood, and he had a severe panic attack. It took quite a bit to snap him out of it. He's been getting a lot better, though. He hasn't had a panic attack or flashback in weeks, and he isn't clinging to me anymore. He's still not quite as independent and confident as a normal child his age, but he is . . . stretching his wings a bit more. Of course, I was never what you'd call an average kid, not even before Mom and Dad's death. Growing up on digs, with all the fragile artifacts around, I learned not to be too rambunctious, not to play rough. I was a lot quieter. Mom and Dad taught me how to treat the things around me with respect and care, that to destroy or damage something for the fun of it was wrong, regardless of whether or not it belonged to me. I don't think I ever broke a toy, except by accident." He smiled. "I remember Dad bought me a toy airplane once. I tripped and fell on it, breaking its wing, and I felt so bad because I hadn't been careful enough. Mom told me that accidents happen while Dad glued the wing back on." Daniel chuckled. "Then they warned me _never_ to run while holding an artifact. There has been more than one occasion on missions when I had no choice but to do that, like when being chased by angry natives." _'Or Jaffa,'_ he added silently. "Poor Mom and Dad would be horrified."

Meredith smiled at the tale. "And Danny's nightmares? How are things going with those?"

"They're not happening as often, but he's still getting them, sometimes bad enough to wake up crying. Not all of them are about Mom and Dad. He's having nightmares about things happening to me as well. At least once, he dreamed that I died with them. I, um . . . I recently found out that Danny has been keeping some things from me, that he's been hiding from us how sad he is sometimes and hasn't been telling me about all his nightmares."

"Do you know why that is?"

"He didn't want me to be sad or upset. He hates seeing me feeling sad. It really bothers him." Daniel told the woman what he had said to Danny when he discovered the boy's deception.

"He sounds like a very empathetic child, which is rare at that age."

"Yes, he is. Um . . . I should probably tell you something about the two of us. There is a telepathic connection between us, and I'm beginning to believe that it may also be empathic, to a certain degree. Danny has picked up thoughts from my mind and vice versa. Very briefly, we have each seen through the eyes of the other. When I had an accident a while ago, Danny was aware that I was hurt even though he was miles away, and when he was in that car accident last week, I knew something terrible had happened. I felt his fear."

"That is extraordinary," Meredith said. "Do you believe it is because he is your clone?"

Daniel nodded. "That's what we figure. There's no doubt that there is a connection between us, and I think it subconsciously influences Danny's emotions and attitude regarding me. Sometimes, I swear that he can sense my mood, especially when I'm upset." Daniel paused. "Fortunately, it doesn't work all the time, and the mind-reading thing happens very rarely."

Meredith laughed softly. "Yes, the thought of an eight-year-old reading my mind would not be very comforting, especially, when my husband and I are . . . intimate."

"Yeah."

The note in Daniel's voice made her study his expression. "Are you in a relationship?"

"Yes. I'm romantically involved with Major Samantha Carter, who is one of my teammates. It's a very new development in our relationship."

"Ah. How does Danny feel about that? Does he resent the time you spend with her?"

Daniel laughed outright. "Not at all. Just the opposite, in fact. He actually played matchmaker to try getting us together. He wants Sam to move in with us so that we'll all be a family."

The psychologist smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. When they have a strong bond with a single parent or guardian, a child can sometimes show jealousy and resentment toward anyone they perceive as a threat to the relationship."

They talked some more about Danny's mental and emotional state. From everything she learned, Meredith formed a picture of a deeply traumatized boy who, largely due to the love and support he'd gotten from Daniel and others at the SGC, was well on the road to recovery but still needed a lot of help. She began asking about Danny's personality and interests, telling Daniel to be completely honest about the child's character.

"Well, not surprisingly, he's a lot like me in many ways," he said. "He's a lot more interested in gaining knowledge than the average child. He loves books, like I always did. Even when I was very young, I usually preferred a book over playing with other kids. Like me, Danny loves learning new things, especially if it has to do with archeology or languages. That comes from our parents."

"What about his play times? Does he prefer solitary play or activities with other people?"

"He likes both, actually. We got him a computer, and he loves playing games on it, both educational and non-educational. But he also loves playing with adults and other kids. He had a ball at the Fourth of July party, where there were quite a few kids for him to play with." Daniel smiled and told her about the play times that he and his teammates had shared with Danny, as well as the 'western shootout' that went on in the commissary, which made Meredith laugh.

"It sounds like he is well-balanced in that regard. It's healthy for a child to enjoy playing with others, yet also be able to amuse himself, and it's very good that Danny enjoys playing with adults as well. Unfortunately, many children today get too much into video games and spend less time interacting with other kids and their parents."

Daniel nodded, agreeing. "Of course, when I was his age, there were no video games. TV was the babysitter many parents used. I watched some TV, but a good book was much more appealing to me. Danny's that way, too."

"Does he draw?"

"Yes, quite a bit, actually."

"Do you have any of his drawings here? I'd like to see them."

Daniel opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of drawn pictures, which he handed to her. The psychologist looked at each drawing closely. She paused when she came to one in particular.

"Can you tell me about this one?"

Daniel looked at it. "Oh. Yeah. Um, that was after a little fun Jack, Colonel O'Neill, had with Danny. It was before Danny started talking again. They were playing together, and Jack managed to make him laugh. Afterwards, Danny felt guilty. He thought it wasn't right for him to laugh, that it would make Mom and Dad believe that he didn't love them."

"What did you tell him?"

"That it was okay to laugh and be happy sometimes after losing someone you loved. I told him that his parents would be happy to see him laughing, that they'd want him to laugh and play."

Meredith nodded. "Good. That was the right thing to say."

The woman continued studying the drawings, seeing some hints of the emotional trauma Danny had been experiencing. She also asked to see some samples of the boy's handwriting. She saw that, in early samples, his writing was very small and close together, but that, in later ones, the letters grew slightly larger and spaced farther apart. This was a barometer of the progress Danny had been making. The small letters bunched closely together indicated shyness and doubt in the child. Seeing the writing grow larger and more widely spaced indicated that Danny was gradually getting past those feelings.

She asked some more probing questions, inquiring about events that had taken place and Danny's reaction to them. Daniel told her more about his accident and the nightmare that Danny had as a result. It didn't surprise the psychologist that the boy would have such a dream. He also told her about his decision to leave SG-1 for Danny's sake and how the boy responded. The incident was a big clue into the psyche of the little boy she'd soon be treating, as well as a peek into the psyche of the man who was the adult version of that child.

"Most children Danny's age are beginning to realize that death is a final thing and that all living things die," Meredith explained, "but they tend not to see death as personal, something that can happen to them. From what you've told me and what I already knew, Danny's intelligence is far above that of the average eight-year-old. Because of this, even before the accident, he was probably more aware that he and his parents were not immune to death. Do you recall how you viewed death before your parents died?"

"I knew that everyone died eventually," Daniel replied. "In archeology and anthropology, death and what happens afterwards is something that you're exposed to a lot, particularly in Egyptology since so much of the culture of the ancient Egyptians revolved around death and preparing for the afterlife. I'd seen mummies and skeletons. Also, in some of the various cultures we lived among while on digs, death is not an issue that people avoid talking about. It is a greater part of their lives because of disease and famine. I knew from an early age that children can die."

Meredith nodded, having guessed this was the case. "Children tend to grieve differently from adults. It's often more sporadic. They appear to be fine for days, even weeks, then, suddenly suffer a bout of grief. With Danny, because he has the memory of witnessing his parents' deaths, which adds to the emotional trauma, his pattern of grieving may not follow the usual course. And then there is his personality to consider. From what you've told me, Danny is a very loving, compassionate child. Children more often tend to be self-centered, focused on what _they_ want and need, but he is clearly one of the exceptions. In this type of situation, that can be both a good thing and a bad thing, a bad thing in that, as he has revealed to you, his concern over making you sad has kept him from showing and expressing his grief. Your response to that was the right one, Daniel. Danny needs to understand that it's important that you know the truth about his feelings."

They talked for a while longer, then Meredith left, saying that she'd arrive at Daniel's house at one o'clock tomorrow. She then went to talk to a few other people about the boy, including Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter and General Hammond. She had already spoken with Janet Fraiser, who was the one that initially filled her in on the boy's physical and psychological condition.

Talking with the other people who had a close relationship with the boy gave her a more well-rounded picture of his psychological state, as well as his personality. Meredith recognized that her approach would have to be somewhat different from the way she'd treat an ordinary child his age.

* * *

Danny was shy around the psychologist when they met the next day, but she soon broke through that. She had noticed a Navajo woven basket on Daniel's mantle and revealed that her grandfather was pure Lakota Sioux. This interested Danny, and he started asking questions about her grandfather and his people. Meredith answered the boy's questions, and the two chatted for the next twenty minutes.

At last, the woman got down to business.

"Danny, I've been told all about you, and I have to say that I'm pretty amazed," she said.

"Daniel said that you know I'm a clone."

"Yes, I do, which I think is pretty cool." Meredith became serious. "I also know about the memories you have of your parents' death." Danny's gaze dropped, but the woman continued. "I would like to talk to you about that, if I could. Do you think you could talk to me about it? I know it will be hard, but I'm a really good listener."

Danny glanced at Daniel, then returned his eyes to his lap.

Daniel stroked the boy's hair. "It's okay, Danny. You don't have to be afraid to talk about it to her. That's what she's here for."

When another moment of silence had passed, Meredith spoke. "I understand how you must feel about it, Danny. I really do. I know how terrible and frightening it must have been, but it is safe to talk about it. Daniel's right there beside you, and, if it gets too hard to talk, you can just stop, at any time. I won't push."

Danny abruptly sought shelter against Daniel. The archeologist put an arm about him.

"Hey. It's okay, Danny," he said soothingly. He met Meredith's eyes. She looked back at him with sympathy and understanding.

The psychologist studied the man who was an adult version of the child she was here to help. The memories that haunted the child were from his mind. When she was filled in on the case, she learned the history of what happened to Daniel Jackson thirty years ago when the event really took place. She'd looked up the old medical records, the report filed by the psychologist that was assigned to him. She knew about the catatonia that lasted for hours, the months of complete silence, the foster homes, the lack of a stable family life after that day Daniel watched his parents get crushed to death.

Meredith knew the statistics. Most children who experienced something like that and then grew up in the foster care system would reach adulthood with a great deal of emotional problems. The rate of homelessness, joblessness, incarceration, welfare dependency, illness, and teen pregnancy were all much higher than normal among individuals who "aged out" of foster care, stayed in the system until adulthood. Daniel had been declared an emancipated adult at fifteen. From that day on, he didn't even have foster parents for support. Yet this man before her had three doctorates and a job that required a lot of mental and emotional stability. This told Meredith that he must have a great deal of inner strength. Because Danny _was_ Daniel genetically, and his memories of the first eight years of his life were the same, years that were the most formative in the development of an individual's personality, she had every reason to believe that same inner strength was within the boy. She just needed to gain his trust.

When Meredith talked to Colonel Jack O'Neill, he had dropped a lot of hints that, while she was treating Danny, she might perhaps get Daniel talking as well. She had refused to covertly treat the adult Daniel, considering it to be unethical. Besides, that wasn't her job. Now, however, she was thinking that the quickest way to get Danny to open up to her might be to get Daniel to share just a little bit of his own feelings regarding the death of the people who were both his parents and, in a way, Danny's.

"Daniel, you're free to refuse, of course, but perhaps Danny will feel more at ease if _you_ talk a little about your mother and father."

"What?" Daniel instantly tensed. "Um, no. That, uh . . . that wouldn't be a good idea."

Meredith had seen the instant and dramatic increase in his tension level. He'd been fairly calm before. Now, he was most assuredly not. A door had abruptly slammed shut so hard that she could have sworn she heard it. Her instincts were telling her that there was something in Daniel's past that accounted for this.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

That made Danny looked up at Daniel, concerned. "What's wrong?" he asked, seeing that Daniel's face looked kind of . . . hard. All the emotions that were usually in his eyes were gone, like little shutters had been closed over them, hiding all the feelings inside.

Daniel looked down at him. "Nothing, Danny. I'm fine."

"You don't _look_ fine."

"We're just not here to talk about me and my feelings."

Meredith saw that Daniel was trying to relax, but the tension was still there. The psychologist had a suspicion about the reason for this.

"I'm sorry, Daniel," she said. "You've had a bad experience with someone in my profession, haven't you." The man's reaction told her that she'd hit the nail right on the head. He'd drawn even further behind his walls.

Danny saw it, too, and started getting upset. "Did something bad happen to you?" he asked.

"Danny, I don't want to talk about it. This isn't why we're here."

The words were not spoken in anger, but Danny reacted by ducking his head. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Daniel sighed and pulled him close. "Don't be sorry, Danny. _I'm_ sorry for saying that." He was silent for several seconds. "Yes, something bad happened," he finally admitted. "There was a psychiatrist who made a big mistake and did something very wrong, and I got . . . hurt because of it. It was a very bad experience in my life, and I don't like to talk about it."

Whatever this incident had been, Meredith could clearly see that the scars ran deep. They had obviously created in him a major aversion to talking to someone in the psychiatric profession about his own feelings. Whomever the psychiatrist was that had scarred him so deeply, she cursed them. She knew that there were a lot of people in her profession who had no business being there.

"Again, I apologize, Daniel," she said. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Daniel met her eyes. "I know. Sorry for reacting like that. It's just a sore spot."

The woman nodded, smiling. "Okay." She looked back and forth between adult and child. "All right, how about if we talk about the happy stuff? From what I understand, you went on archeological digs with your parents, going to Egypt and other foreign countries. That sounds fascinating."

It didn't take long for Danny to warm up to the subject, and Meredith got an education in life on a dig. She also learned quite a bit about the culture of Egypt, both past and present. Daniel interjected some things from time to time, but let the boy do most of the talking.

Meredith had already known that Danny's intelligence was well above normal, but she hadn't quite been prepared for the true extend of that intelligence. He clearly had a very high I.Q. and an amazing memory, perhaps close to eidetic. His linguistic skills alone were awe-inspiring.

"Wow. Six languages?" Meredith said.

"I'm learning Italian, too," Danny told her. He grinned. "Daniel knows a whole thirty languages!"

Eyes widened, Meredith turned to the man, who appeared to be embarrassed.

He shrugged. "After Mom and Dad died, I spent a lot of time studying. I spent all of my allowance on history books and language tapes and borrowed a lot of the same from teachers."

That admission gave Meredith another window into Daniel's soul. So, that's how he coped with his parents' death, by burying himself in the pursuit of knowledge. It had certainly been a more constructive and productive response than what a lot of kids would have had.

"Well, I think we've rambled on enough for one day," Meredith said, deciding that it would be best not to try digging into anything emotionally sensitive today. She looked at her watch. "And I've got a long drive back to Denver to make. I'd like to return tomorrow, if I may."

"Don't you have things of your own to do?" Daniel asked.

"Not really. My husband's on a business trip out of town. I'd rather be working than bouncing around the house alone for the rest of the weekend. I usually put in extra hours at work when he's gone."

They all stood. Daniel accompanied the woman out to her car.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he said. "You didn't deserve that."

Meredith nodded. "Apology accepted." Hesitating, she then said, "Would you be willing to tell me what happened? I truly hope it was not a childhood experience."

Daniel didn't reply for a while. "No, it happened a few years ago." When Meredith just looked at him patiently, he sighed. If she really wanted to know, she could find out on her own, though he suspected that she wouldn't do that. "I was wrongfully diagnosed with schizophrenia and committed to Mental Health," he said bluntly. "I was locked in a padded cell for three days and shot up with antipsychotic drugs, which only made things worse."

Meredith gasped. Okay, this was _way_ worse than she thought it was. Dear God. No wonder the man had a problem talking with psychiatrists.

"If it hadn't been for something that could very easily not have happened, no one would have known the truth, and I'd have been in there for the rest of my life," Daniel finished.

"I . . . I am so sorry that happened to you, Daniel. It must have been a terrible experience."

"Definitely not on my list of top ten favorite moments."

"Well, I certainly understand your reaction now. If I had known this, I would have gone about things differently. When I asked you to talk about your feelings regarding your parents, I honestly did do it for Danny's sake. I believed that hearing you open up about it would encourage him to do the same."

Daniel frowned, eyes turned to the ground. "Do you think that's the only way?"

"No, it's not the only way. We made good progress today in building trust between us. Once he feels completely at ease with me, I'm hoping that he'll be more willing to talk. It'll take a bit if time, but we'll get there. It didn't take long for me to see that Danny has bonded with you quite strongly because you were there for him when he was suffering from an extreme emotional trauma. After something like that happens to a child, it's very important that they have someone to hold on to, someone to make them feel safe and loved. It makes all the difference in the world to how quickly and fully they heal." Though she was tempted to do so, she did not add that she knew Daniel did not have that. "It's quite clear that he adores you," Meredith smiled, "and is even a bit protective of you. I'm betting that if he ever thought that someone was threatening you in some way, he'd go at them tooth and nail."

Daniel smiled, remembering Danny's reaction to Ferretti's "geek" comment. "I'm afraid you're right about that."

"So, what would be a good time for me to come over tomorrow?" Meredith asked.

"After lunch would be best."

"Okay. We'll see you then."

Daniel watched the psychologist leave, some of the words she'd spoken rising back into his mind. With a thoughtful and slightly troubled frown, he headed back to the house.

* * *

"How did it go?" Sam asked Daniel on the phone that evening.

The archeologist glanced over at Danny, who was busy drawing at the dining room table. "Um, well, we didn't get very far," he said in a lowered voice. "Danny didn't want to talk about it. But Meredith spent a lot of time gaining his trust, which she said was a good thing. She's coming back tomorrow. Are you coming over tonight?"

Sam smiled. "If you want me to."

"Do you even need to ask? I've missed you like crazy all week." Because of work and other things, they had not spent a night together since last Sunday.

"Ditto. Okay, I'll be over in a few."

Danny was delighted to find out that Sam was spending another night with them. The three of them played games until well past the boy's bedtime. He was nearly falling asleep on his feet as Daniel led him off to his bedroom.

After Danny was tucked away in bed, Daniel came back out into the living room, surprised not to see Sam there. Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind, spun around, and found himself immersed in a passionate kiss. He didn't waste any time returning the kiss with equal fervor. He wrapped his arms around Sam's waist and lifted her up. She locked her legs around his hips.

The kiss didn't stop as they stumbled into the bedroom and fell onto the bed.

"God, I've wanted you all week," Daniel groaned as he began stripping Sam's clothes off.

Sam moaned as Daniel's hands found her breasts. "Me too." She reached for Daniel's shirt and yanked it off.

Their lovemaking was fast and hard, both of them too overpowered with desire to slow things down. They fell into an exhausted sleep afterwards, waking up four hours later to make love again, this time slowly and gently.

The next morning over breakfast, Sam noticed that Daniel seemed a little distracted. He was picking at his food, a slight frown knitting his brow.

"Is something wrong, Daniel?" she asked.

"What?" Daniel looked up at her, then over at Danny, who was now also staring at him. "Uh, no. Sorry. I was just thinking about something."

Sam knew there was something to this, but didn't push. "When is Doctor Woods coming over?"

"After lunch, probably around one or so."

Sam smiled. "Good. Then we can all spend the morning together."

They went to the park and spent a couple of hours there. Shortly before noon, they got some takeout and ate it at the house. Sam left at 12:45.

She studied his face as they stood at her car. "Daniel, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. I've just got something on my mind, something Meredith said."

"What's that?"

"We can talk about it later."

"Okay. If you need to talk to me sooner, Daniel, just call, all right? I'm not doing anything important today, just some shopping and errands."

Daniel smiled and kissed her. "I will." He wrapped his arms around her. "And will we get the pleasure of your company again tonight?"

"Hmm. We do have to work tomorrow, you know."

Daniel grinned. "I can behave myself, if you can. It won't be easy, but I think I can manage."

Sam also grinned. "Well, in that case, I'll be here in time for dinner."

"Great. See you then."

The lovers kissed again, then Sam got in her car and drove off. As she disappeared from view, the smile on Daniel's face faded away to be replaced by a troubled look. He went back into the house to await Meredith's arrival. 


	35. Chapter 35

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

The psychologist got there at a little after one. She started the session out by talking a bit about her own childhood. She'd spent some time on her grandfather's reservation and shared some of her experiences with Danny. This was in an effort to gain more of the boy's trust. Yes, some in her profession would frown upon her bringing her own personal life into things, but Meredith's philosophy was putting the patient first. Though she certainly wouldn't share personal things with every child she treated, making use of Danny's interest in various cultures might be just the thing to do.

Very subtly, Meredith steered the conversation in the direction she wanted to go. She talked about the death of her grandfather when she was twelve, how sad it had been to see such a strong man felled by a stroke. She spoke of the burial ceremony that was performed by the tribe. Danny grew quiet, not saying anything more, his gaze focused on his lap.

When she stopped talking, there was silence. After several seconds had passed, Meredith prepared to speak again. Much to her surprise, someone else beat her to it.

"When I first woke up in the hospital, I didn't want to believe it was real," Daniel murmured, his gaze on the floor. Danny immediately looked at him. "I wanted to believe it had been a nightmare. But I was in that hospital, and Mom and Dad weren't there. I knew they would never have left me alone, if they were still alive. That's when I knew it was all real."

Danny slipped his hand into Daniel's.

"I built a shell around myself to protect me," Daniel continued. "I shut everyone out. Every time I went to sleep, I had the nightmares, and Mom and Dad weren't there to chase them away. No one was." He swallowed the tightness in his throat. "When Nick came, I wanted so desperately for him to take me away, to be a real grandfather, someone who'd love me and make things better. When he didn't do that, when he turned right around and left again after the funeral and a breakfast of waffles, I decided not to let myself love or need anybody, because everyone just went away."

Being a child psychologist who had dealt with a lot of emotionally shattered children, Meredith still found herself being deeply affected by Daniel's words, perhaps because he was not a child. He was a grown man recounting a terrible childhood experience that he had clearly never fully healed from. First, he'd lost his parents, then he was abandoned by his own grandfather, one devastating blow on top of another. Meredith wished that she'd been there back then to help that deeply wounded little boy, to give him the love and security he'd needed.

Daniel took a deep, slightly unsteady breath. "It wasn't until a year or so later that the anger came. I was angry at Mom and Dad for leaving me, for leaving me alone to be taken care of by strangers. They should have been more careful. They shouldn't have been there, under that coverstone. They shouldn't-"

Daniel halted abruptly, as if he'd just realized what he had revealed. Distressed, he looked at Danny. The boy's eyes were huge wells of anguish and sorrow.

"Danny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. Yes, I was mad at them for a while, but I know they just made a mistake. The possible consequences didn't enter their mind. They were just too . . . wrapped up in the work. If the chain hadn't snapped, they'd have been fine. That wasn't their fault."

Danny began to cry, and Daniel pulled him into his arms. Dammit. The last thing he'd wanted Danny to hear was about the blame Daniel had placed upon his parents for their death. Standing beneath that coverstone had been utterly foolhardy and irresponsible. Once Daniel had been old enough to realize that, the anger and resentment had started. That had been the one and only time throughout those years that could be considered destructive. He'd spent a lot of time throwing rocks in a drainage ditch near his foster home.

Daniel didn't know how long the anger would have lasted if it hadn't been for Father Reilly. Daniel's foster parents at the time were devout Catholics and went to church regularly. It was possible that one of them had spoken to the priest about their concerns over Daniel, or perhaps he'd noticed the change in Daniel's attitude himself. Regardless of the reason, one day, he sat Daniel down to talk. It took several minutes of probing questions, but Daniel had finally blurted out that his mom and dad were stupid for what they did, that he was all alone because they were stupid.

With infinite patience and understanding, Father Reilly had explained to the nine year old Daniel that his parents were human and, like all humans, they made a mistake. They hadn't put themselves in danger on purpose. They had simply underestimated the risk. Daniel took the words to heart, and the anger eventually faded away, though the knowledge of his parents' blame in what happened always remained.

As Danny continued to cry, Meredith did not speak. She just sat and watched Daniel attempt to comfort the boy. She had nothing but admiration for what he'd just done. He had bared that deeply personal pain for Danny's sake, obviously in response to what she had said to him yesterday. That had taken a lot of strength and courage . . . and a lot of love. Daniel had revealed that, as a child, he decided never to let himself love or need anyone again, yet it was pretty clear that he had a great deal of love within him. Kind, compassionate souls like him could not help but love, though they may not allow themselves to need anyone.

Danny finally stopped crying, though he remained very withdrawn. Meredith was about to suggest that she leave when he spoke.

"It was their fault."

The whispered words made Daniel curse himself all over again. He was about to say something when Meredith held up her hand, indicating that she'd handle it.

"In a way, yes, it was," she said to the boy. "They made the decision to stand under that coverstone, a place they should have realized was too dangerous to be. It was a mistake, a mistake that cost their lives, but that's _all_ it was, a mistake. Danny, people do stupid, dangerous things all the time without thinking about it, without stopping to consider what might happen. A few weeks ago, there was a story in the papers about a man who was severely burned because he was smoking a cigarette while handling gasoline."

"But gasoline can catch on fire," Danny said in a little voice.

"Yes, and he knew that, but he did it anyway. He figured that he'd be okay as long as the cigarette didn't get near the gas. He was wrong. He made a foolish mistake, and he paid the price."

Danny appeared to be deep in thought. "When I was six, I climbed up onto a wall because I wanted to walk across the top. I fell and broke my arm. Dad told me that it was a foolish thing to do because the wall was so high."

Meredith pounced on the experience. "Exactly. You thought that you'd be fine, that you could walk across that wall without any problems, didn't you."

Danny nodded.

"I bet you didn't really even consider that you might fall."

The boy's head ducked. "No."

"You made a mistake, Danny, just like your parents did. They thought that chain would hold the coverstone, and they'd be safe."

Daniel recalled the recreation of his parents' deaths by the Keeper. At one point, his mother had gotten nervous when the coverstone started swinging. Dad had said, "It's okay. It's fine. We'll be fine." That was a detail of the accident that Daniel had forgotten, something resurrected by the Keeper. His father had been sure they would be all right.

"They made a mistake," Danny said.

"Yes."

The boy looked up at Daniel. "You know that it was a mistake?" he asked, apparently needing confirmation that the older version of himself felt that way.

Daniel caressed his face. "Yes, Danny, I know it was a mistake."

Danny rested his head on Daniel's chest. "I really miss them a lot," he whispered.

"I know," Daniel murmured.

Danny started crying again. "Sometimes, I have dreams that they're okay. They run up to me and hug me and kiss me. But then I wake up, and they're still dead."

Daniel closed his eyes. "I did, too," he revealed.

"You did?"

"Yeah. I also had good dreams that turned bad. I once dreamed that we went to Disneyland, but there was a ride that went through an Egyptian tomb. The coverstone was there and fell on them."

"I dreamed that we went back to Egypt and were on a big dig. The coverstone was there."

Meredith sat and watched silently as man and child talked about the dreams each of them had experienced. This was wonderful, very good therapy for Danny, and, perhaps, for Daniel as well.

"My very best dream," Danny said, "was that Mom and Dad were alive, and they were here, in this time. You and everybody else were here, too. I had both of my families."

That statement almost broke Daniel's control. He fought the tears, holding them back as he tightened his arms around Danny.

"That would be wonderful," he said in a rough, emotion-filled voice.

"Yeah."

Though Meredith hated to interrupt, she knew that this was a good time to begin digging deeper into Danny's emotions.

"Do you have a lot of nightmares, Danny?" she asked.

"Not as many as before," he replied. "I don't have them every night."

"Are the nightmares getting better? Are they not as bad as they used to be?"

Danny glanced at Daniel uncertainly.

"It's all right. No matter what you say, I won't be mad," Daniel told him.

"Some are pretty bad," Danny confessed, "but not as bad as the ones I used to have, except for when I have a dream that something really bad happens to Daniel."

Meredith glanced at Daniel, then back to the boy. "You have dreams of something terrible happening to Daniel?"

Danny nodded his head.

"Do you know why you have those dreams?"

Danny's arms tightened around Daniel's waist. In a whisper, he replied, "Because I'm afraid he'll die, too."

Meredith recognized this as one of the biggest psychological issues Danny was dealing with, the fear of losing more people that he loved. Daniel had clearly also suffered with that fear when this happened to him. It was possible that he still had it, at least to a certain extent. Meredith had high hopes that, as long as Danny didn't suffer another devastating loss, this fear would fade to a more normal level.

Fearing the death of a loved one was tricky to treat. You couldn't lie and say that it was never going to happen.

"I do understand why you have that fear, Danny," Meredith said. "Adults worry a lot about losing loved ones."

"They do?"

"Oh, yes. I worry about something happening to someone in my family or one of my friends. I'm betting that Daniel worries about that as well."

Danny looked up at Daniel, who nodded.

"Yes, I do," he confirmed. "Most of all, I worry about something happening to you or Sam."

This seemed to surprise Danny. "You worry about me dying?"

Daniel nodded.

"What do you do when you're scared that will happen?"

"Mostly, I try not to think about it. I try to push it out of my mind and think about other stuff, like work or pleasant things."

Meredith nodded to herself. Pushing bad thoughts out of your mind and concentrating on other things was a very common coping mechanism. Many experts would say it was the wrong tactic, that you have to face negative thoughts and fears in order to overcome them, but that was not always possible for a young child, who lacked the mental and emotional maturity to confront their fears and successfully move beyond them. The fear of a loved one dying was particularly difficult. It wasn't a personal fear, like a fear of flying, or snakes, or public speaking. It couldn't be treated by going out and confronting the thing you fear.

"Death is a fact of life," the psychologist said. "It happens to every living thing on Earth. We can't change that. All we can do is accept it and try to live our lives the best that we can and to give all the love we can to our friends and family for as long as they are with us." She met the archeologist's eyes. "Daniel, if you could talk to your parents today, what would you tell them?"

"I'd . . . I'd tell them that I miss them, that I love them, and . . . I'd thank them for all they did for me, for being the good parents that they were and for giving me eight years if happiness in a world that I loved."

"What if you could change history, rearrange things so that you were not born to Melburn and Claire Jackson, but to someone else instead, parents who were not so loving and didn't give you the joy you experienced during those first eight years of your life? Would you do it if it meant that you would still have those parents with you today?"

It didn't take long for Daniel to answer. "No," he replied. "No, I wouldn't. Growing up in foster care, I knew what it was like to have parents who really didn't care about me. It is a terrible and lonely way to live. I wouldn't give up those eight years I had with Mom and Dad for _fifty_ years with parents who didn't love me like they did."

Meredith nodded, having suspected that's the answer Daniel would give. She looked at the boy beside him. "And what about you, Danny? Would you give up the memories of those eight years with your mom and dad in exchange for other parents who would still be alive?"

Danny shook his head, tears pooling again in his eyes. "I wouldn't have wanted anybody else to be my parents. They were the best mom and dad in the whole world."

"And what about Daniel? If you knew that something was going to happen to him soon that would take him away from you forever, would you rather go live with someone else, somebody who would still be alive many years from now?"

Danny buried his head against Daniel, holding onto him tightly. "No, I wouldn't want to live with somebody else instead."

Meredith gazed at the child tenderly. "Then that's what you have to think about, Danny, that you have Daniel now, that, no matter how long or short a time he is in your life, you were lucky to have him be the one to take care of you and love you as much as he does. A year with love is better than a whole lifetime without it."

The woman got to her feet. "I think it's time for me to go. I'll come back for another visit tomorrow, okay?"

"Danny, is it okay if I walk Meredith out to her car?" Daniel asked the boy in his arms.

Upon receiving a nod, Daniel gave Danny a little squeeze, then rose from the couch. He accompanied the psychologist out to her car.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome. But I should also be thanking _you_. Talking about your own experiences was what enabled me to get through to him so quickly. I know how difficult it was for you."

"Danny's worth it."

"Yes, he is."

"Do you think what you said will help him?"

"I believe so. Danny is a special child. He is not just more intelligent than the average eight-year-old, he also has a greater level of understanding about life. He has a great deal of wisdom for a child his age. Many children would not be able to grasp the concept that it is better to have a short time with people who love you than to have many years with people who don't, but I believe Danny does understands that. I'm hoping that this leads to him finding some peace within himself about the reality of your death at some future time. Of course, he is always going to fear it, and the thought of you dying will always upset him, but the best outcome would be for that fear to reach a more normal level and stop causing repeated nightmares. Like all of us, he needs to find joy in the time that we have with loved ones and be grateful for that time, no matter how short it is."

Daniel nodded, knowing she was right. Though it had only been a year and a few months, he would always be grateful for the time he'd had with Sha're.

A thought came to Daniel just then, something that he'd been worrying about. He wasn't sure if it was appropriate to approach Meredith about it, though. But then, she was a child psychologist.

"Uhhh . . . there is something I've been concerned about. It's . . . kind of personal."

"What's that?"

"Well, I told you that Sam and I are in a relationship. She has stayed the night here more than once, and Danny knows this, but. . . ."

"But he doesn't know about sex," Meredith guessed, seeing the look of discomfort on the man's face.

"He knows some of the basics about reproduction," the archeologist explained, "that a baby is created from the sperm of a man and the egg of a woman, although he doesn't know the actual word 'sperm'. He just doesn't know about the, uh, process. Back when I was that age, kids knew less about sex than they do now. That is the era Danny's memories are from, so he's as innocent about it as I was. Sam and I have been avoiding telling him anything. To be honest, we've been dodging it like crazy, but I've begun to realize something. Danny will be starting school in the fall, and he will most likely be going into the fourth grade."

"Ah, yes. I see the problem. Sooner or later, he's going to start hearing things from the other students."

"Yeah. He'll be in a class with ten and eleven-year-olds, and you can bet that someone is going to make comments that will pique Danny's interest. There's also the danger of him seeing things on TV. I've been careful up till now about what he watches, but it's only a matter of time before he sees something sex related that will raise questions."

"Are you asking me what you think you should do about this?"

Daniel shifted uncomfortably. "Uh . . . yeah, I guess I am."

"Well, it is true that American children these days get a lot of their knowledge about sex from other kids and from TV and movies. This is because sex is a subject that most parents feel very uncomfortable talking about with their kids. They avoid sitting down with their children and explaining all the facts. Unfortunately, not talking about sex with your kids can result in them experimenting with it far sooner than they should out of curiosity, which often leads to teen pregnancies. Obviously, Danny's not old enough yet to worry about that, but he'll be at that age before you know it."

"So, you're recommending that Sam and I talk to him about it?"

"Perhaps a little," Meredith replied, "but, though he is a very intelligent boy, he is still only eight. Has he ever seen animals mate?"

"Um, I don't know. He watches Animal Planet, so it's possible. He has seen animals give birth. When he . . . when _I_ was seven, I watched the birth of a camel. I was amazed by the whole thing. Actually, I recall now that it was shortly after that that Mom and Dad explained the birds and bees to me. I had all kinds of questions that they couldn't avoid. I knew before then that babies were carried inside their mothers' stomachs, but nothing more."

"What I'd recommend is that you let him watch a program that shows a pair of mammals mating. If he asks you about what they're doing, tell him. Explain that's how babies are created. He may or may not ask if it's the same with people. If he does, tell him the truth. Don't hedge, but also don't tell him more than he needs to know to answer his question. He doesn't have to know all the facts about the sex act and the differences in male and female genitalia. That should be reserved for when he is a few years older, but before he reaches puberty. It is likely that, once he goes into middle school, he will eventually have some kind of life science class, what people sometimes call sex education. Before then, he really should know enough about the process that he won't be taken by surprise by what he learns in the class."

Daniel nodded. "Thanks."

Meredith laid a hand on his arm. "You are doing a good job with him, Daniel. I know that suddenly becoming a parent to a child isn't easy, especially becoming a single parent, but, from all I've seen and heard, you are doing wonderfully. Danny is very lucky to have you."

Daniel's gaze fell to the ground. "I just want him to have a happy life with a lot of love in it."

Meredith looked at him closely. "You want him to have what you didn't," she ventured to say, hoping she hadn't stepped over the line. Though she specialized in child psychology, the time she had spent in Daniel's company had given her a good picture of the kind of man he was and how the things he'd gone through as a child had shaped his personality.

Daniel's gaze went to the house. "Yes," he said, in a soft, low voice. "I don't ever want him to be alone."

"He has you, Daniel, and he has your teammates and a lot of other people who care about him. None of us can predict what the future will bring, but I don't think you ever have to worry about Danny not having someone to love him."

When Sam arrived, she could see right away that both Danny and Daniel were a bit on the subdued side, especially the boy.

The major knelt and gave the child a big hug. "Hey. Are you okay?" When he didn't answer, she looked up at Daniel.

"It was a rough session," he explained.

Sam gave Danny another hug, running a hand through his hair, then she got to her feet. "Well, you two can just sit and relax tonight. I'm making dinner." She walked over to the grocery bag she'd placed by the door.

"That isn't necessary, Sam," Daniel insisted.

"I know, but I want to. I've brought all the stuff with me."

"Well, okay, but the least we can do is help." Daniel looked down at Danny. "Right?"

The boy nodded.

The dinner preparation was a joint effort, the adults giving Danny the easy things to do. After the meal was over, they all watched TV. Danny got tired early that night and was in bed by 8:30.

"Okay, so are you going to tell me what happened and what's been bugging you?" Sam asked as they began washing dishes.

Daniel sighed softly. "Yesterday, when she couldn't get Danny to open up about Mom and Dad, Meredith asked me if I'd be willing to talk about how their deaths affected me. She thought that me talking about it would encourage Danny to do the same. I . . . didn't react well to the request. I tensed up and basically refused. It was a knee jerk reaction. Afterwards, I ended up telling her about the misdiagnosis and commitment to Mental Health."

"I'm sorry. I know that's a touchy subject for you." The fact was that Daniel never talked about it, unless he had to. It had become one of the subjects that was virtually taboo to speak about, which was fine with the rest of SG-1. Every one of Daniel's teammates suffered more than a little guilt over those events.

"I kept thinking about what she said, that if I talked about Mom and Dad, it might help Danny. So . . . I did."

Surprised, Sam stared at him. "You talked about when your parents died?"

"Yeah. It wasn't easy, and I ended up revealing something I shouldn't have."

Daniel told her about the session, what was said and what happened. After he was done, Sam embraced him. No wonder he and Danny were so subdued this evening. It hadn't been an easy day for either of them.

After preparing for bed that night, Daniel and Sam crawled under the covers and went into each other's arms. Daniel held her tightly, his cheek pressed against her hair.

"I love you," he whispered.

Sam raised her head and kissed him softly. "And I love you."

They kissed again, then snuggled closer together, wanting nothing more from each other than to be held. Within minutes, they were both asleep.

For the rest of that week, Meredith had therapy sessions with Danny. Because of Daniel's work, it was necessary for most of the sessions to take place at the SGC. The psychologist was very pleased with the progress Danny made. She was also very pleased with the fact that the therapy Danny was receiving also seemed to be helping Daniel finally put to rest the lingering ghosts of his parents' death and his years in foster care.

But then, something happened that the psychologist hadn't prepared for. It was on Friday, during the seventh session. The conversation ended up touching on the subject of Daniel's many foster parents. Danny knew only a little about the foster care system, but he did know that Daniel had lived in more than one household after his parents died.

"Were any of them mean to you?" he asked.

Meredith instantly saw the reaction in Daniel, though it was obvious that he tried to cover it up.

_'Oh no,'_ was the thought that leapt into the woman's mind. She knew about what sometimes happened to children in foster care, about the abuse, the molestations, and Daniel's body language was screaming to her that he had been a victim of at least one of those things.

Daniel didn't speak for quite some time. "Um . . . there was one family that. . . . The man drank a lot," he finally said, his voice tense. He avoided eye contact.

Danny immediately became distressed. He remembered seeing a man at one of the digs who'd gotten drunk. The man had been mean and violent, hitting another man hard enough to knock him down. It had terrified the boy.

"D-did he hit you?" he asked in a whisper.

"Danny, it's okay. It was a very long time ago," Daniel replied, not really answering the question.

"He did, didn't he," Danny guessed anyway.

Daniel gave a soft sigh. "Yes."

"A lot?"

"A . . . a few times. It wasn't really bad, not bad enough to do any major damage, mostly just slaps on the face. I was only with them for a couple of months before the social worker figured out what was happening and pulled me out of there."

"Was he arrested?" Meredith asked gently.

"Yes, although I don't know how long he was kept in jail. Obviously, he and his wife were never allowed to foster any other kids."

Danny got out of his chair and flung himself at Daniel, throwing his arms about the man. The archeologist returned the embrace.

"I hope he went to jail for a long, long time," Danny said, his voice muffled by his guardian's shirt.

Daniel closed his eyes and held the boy tighter. This was something he hadn't wanted Danny to ever know, an ugly truth that no one else knew, including Daniel's teammates. There had been other foster parents who were not especially kind to him, but only Mister Schubert had abused him. The abuse had been a little worse than Daniel had made it out to be, but there was no way that he'd ever allow Danny to know that. And Mister Schubert had never done anything worst than hit him. Compared to the abuse and sexual molestation that some children suffered, Daniel had been lucky. He had pushed it out of his mind a long time ago.

Seeing how upset Danny was, Meredith decided to put an end to the session.

"Daniel, could I talk to you outside?" she asked after putting her things in her briefcase.

They left the office and walked down the hall a few paces.

"I'm very sorry about that," Meredith apologized.

The archeologist shrugged. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known about it unless you examined the files, and they probably don't even exist anymore."

"Even so, I'm sorry that you had to reveal that incident to Danny." Meredith paused for a moment. "Daniel, I don't want to pry. . . ."

"But you want to know how bad it _really_ was. He never put me in the hospital, though he did knock me unconscious once. All he ever used was his hand, never a belt or some other object. It could have been a lot worse."

"Yes, but that doesn't make it any less abhorrent. I've had to treat more than one abused or molested child, and it always enrages me to see it. Were you taken to a therapist afterwards?"

Daniel shook his head. "I don't think they did that very much in the foster care system back then. I was simply put with another family, one they knew was safe. The people mostly left me alone, which is what I wanted."

Meredith felt deep sadness over what Daniel had suffered. "How old were you?"

"Eleven." The archeologist stared at her. "Is this going to affect Danny's progress? Every time I've been hurt or when Danny found out about something bad happening to me, it's affected him pretty badly."

"No, I think he'll be all right, but he may respond by hovering around you a bit more for a while. He may also ask you other questions about it. It would be okay be more truthful, but tread carefully so as not to frighten him. Fortunately, he's past the age where he'll fear that the man who harmed you as a child will come back and hurt you again someday."

"Which is really good, considering."

Meredith's gaze sharpened. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, just that, if Danny ever found out about some of the stuff I've went through on missions at the hands of others, he'd be terrified of more than one person coming back to finish the job."

"Oh, boy. That bad, huh?"

Daniel shrugged again, attempting to make light of it. "It's a hazard of the job. I'm certainly not the only one. When it happens, we just have to deal with it and get through it, keep on working."

"But, sometimes, that isn't enough, Daniel. Sometimes, we need help from others to get us through it."


	36. Chapter 36

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Thankfully, Danny didn't ask any more questions about the abuse Daniel had suffered, but as Meredith suspected, the boy did do some hovering around the archeologist for the rest of that day. It was kind of amusing to think about an eight-year-old boy acting like an overprotective mother toward a thirty-eight-year-old man, and Daniel was sure that Jack would have a wisecrack or two to impart upon him, if the colonel knew what was going on. But then, if Jack knew that, he'd also know the reason for it, which was something Daniel would prefer not to happen. It's not that he thought Jack would track Mister Schubert down and beat the crap out of him. The man must be close to seventy now. But if Jack knew that Daniel had been abused as a child. . . . The archeologist wasn't quite sure how Jack would react, but it would be better if he never knew.

"So, how is the therapy coming along?" Jack asked Daniel Friday evening. He, Sam and Teal'c had come over to the house for a little get-together, and he was presently out on the front porch with Daniel.

"Pretty good, actually. Meredith is very happy with Danny's progress. She doesn't think that she'll need to do many more."

"That's great news. So, no more nightmares?"

"He's had one, but it wasn't bad."

Jack focused a penetrating look on Daniel. "And what about you?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. Any more nightmares about the accident?"

"Oh. Just one more. I took your advice."

Jack nodded and took another sip of his beer. "So, did you hear about this summit that's supposed to be going on between those two Goa'uld?"

Daniel nodded. "Ramius and Tilgath. The intelligence from the rebel Jaffa says that they're planning an alliance against Anubis. Teal'c and Bra'tac are going to go spy on them, right?"

"Yep. They'll be heading off very early Monday morning."

"I wonder what the Tok'ra think about this, if they know."

"Oh, you can bet that they know. They've probably got spies in both camps. Speaking of the Tok'ra, when are you and Carter going to give Jacob the news about you two?"

"We have no intention of calling the Tok'ra just to let Sam's father know that we're dating, Jack, even if General Hammond would allow us to. The next time we see Jacob, we'll tell him."

"And hope that he doesn't break your jaw. After all, it's his little girl that your sleeping with."

Daniel glared at him. "What happened to your claim that Jacob would be fine with the change in our relationship?"

"He probably will be, but fathers can get a little psycho when it comes to protecting their daughters."

"Well, thank you so very much for the encouraging words, Jack."

"Don't mention it."

* * *

The mission to spy on Ramius and Tilgath did not go as planned. Tilgath and the armies of both Goa'uld were wiped out, apparently by a single, armor-clad warrior. That lone warrior was killed by Teal'c, who repeatedly shot him with a zat, and was brought back to the SGC. The warrior's armor apparently protected it from energy-based weapons, which meant that they could be dealing with an entirely new kind of technology. A call was put into the Tok'ra, asking someone to come to Earth.

Because of the situation, Daniel called Meredith to cancel the session. He told her that it might be a few days before things settled down and he'd call her when the sessions could resume.

The Tok'ra who came was Jacob. Daniel and Sam didn't have the opportunity to talk to him privately, however. The focus of attention was on the warrior.

And that's when they got their second surprise. Upon examining the body, they discovered something shocking. The warrior was a Goa'uld inside a genetically engineered host, one that was created to be abnormally strong, but without any concern for longevity. The only thing that kept the host alive was the symbiote, but even that wouldn't work for long. Jacob determined that Teal'c hadn't killed the warrior after all. The warrior's armor appeared to possess some kind of advanced energy absorption technology. No matter how many staff or zat blasts were fired at it, nothing would get through. Instead, the host had died of cardiopulmonary failure. The two Jaffa had just gotten lucky.

Daniel, Sam and Jacob were now in one of the SGC's medical labs. The warrior was lying on a metal exam table.

"Its entire cellular structure is less then three weeks old," Jacob announced. "It is organic, but it was definitely created in a lab."

"Well, we know the Goa'uld have been trying to physically perfect a host that would be superior to humans," Sam said.

"Well, this thing's definitely a lot stronger than humans, but it's far from superior."

Daniel looked at the warrior's hideously alien face. "And, traditionally, the Goa'uld are also somewhat vain about their appearance."

"This was obviously intended to be a new form of foot soldier," Jacob reasoned, "possibly a reaction to the recent uprising of the Jaffa. What's most interesting is that this being was not alive when it was first grown. It was given life after it reached its mature state."

"Frankenstein's monster."

Sam looked at her father. "How do you know that?"

Jacob's head bowed slightly. When he spoke, it was with the deep tone of Selmak.

"Remnants of a unique energy signature within its cells. It's similar to the residual effects left by the use of a sarcophagus."

"Could it give life to something that wasn't alive in the first place?" Daniel asked.

"No. A sarcophagus is designed to boost health and longevity, heal or revive someone terminally injured. They are nowhere near powerful enough to animate non-living cellular matter."

"Then what could have?" Sam wanted to know.

"Thousands of years ago, a Goa'uld found a device originally created by the Ancients. He determined its primary purpose was to heal, but it was so powerful, its effects on human hosts ultimately proved devastating. However, after much research and experimentation, the Goa'uld was able to use the technology to create the first sarcophagus."

"Obviously he wasn't able to eliminate all of its negative side effects," Daniel said, thinking about what he'd gone through after becoming addicted to a sarcophagus.

"The Tok'ra have long sought this device in the hope of using it to perfect the sarcophagus technology so that we could all benefit from it. Now, it may be the key to fighting this new warrior."

"How?" Sam asked.

"With the device, we may be able to devise a weapon to counteract this life-giving energy."

"Who was the first Goa'uld to find the device?" Daniel asked.

"His name was Telchak."

"Telchak," Daniel repeated, remembering something. Without explanation he quickly left the lab. Sam and her father exchanged a look, then followed him. He went to his office.

"Nicholas Ballard, my, uh . . . grandfather. . . ." he said, as he entered the room. He started searching through his books, going from shelving unit to shelving unit. "One of Nick's early obsessions was finding the so-called Fountain of Youth. He claimed he'd found evidence indicating the source of the fountain's power," he found the book he was seeking and pulled it out, "was a piece of alien technology used by early Mayan tribes around 900 B.C. Nick traced its origins to Chac, the Mayan god of rain."

"And you think this Chac may have actually been Telchak?" Jacob inquired.

"Just a hunch," Daniel replied as he looked through Nick's old journal for a particular page.

"Maybe not just a hunch," Sam said. "The primary function of the device was to heal, right?"

"For the Ancients," Jacob clarified. "For humans to see any positive effect, it would be from very limited exposure at a safe distance."

"Still, if the device was kept hidden near a water source, it could be the basis of the Fountain of Youth mythology."

"Nick believed Chac's temple was located somewhere in Central America," Daniel told them. "He spent decades of his life searching for it, but came up empty. I've been over his notes, and most of it is indecipherable. The only mention of the temple's location is somewhere near a waterfall and a river."

Daniel handed the journal to Jacob. It was open to a section covered with writing and hand drawn illustrations.

Surprised, Jacob stared at the pages. "This is written in an obscure dialect of Goa'uld."

Both Daniel and Sam were shocked by the announcement.

"But how could Nick have known a Goa'uld dialect?" Sam asked.

Jacob read through some of the writing. "I don't think he did. This appears to be something copied from another source. Your grandfather must have stumbled upon some tablets or other objects that had information about the device. He copied the script down in this journal. It's very unlikely that he ever translated it."

The three of them studied the contents of the book, Jacob acting as translator, when necessary. Upon coming to several conclusions, they asked to see General Hammond. They met the man in his office and told him that they had a pretty good idea where the device was: in southern Honduras.

"How can we be certain the device is there?" Hammond asked.

"Uh, we can't," Daniel admitted, "but, uh. . . ."

"We think we know who's responsible for creating the Goa'uld warrior," Sam interjected.

"Telchak?" Hammond said.

"No," Daniel replied.

"After Telchak created the sarcophagus, Anubis went to war with him for possession of the original Ancient device," the voice of Selmak stated.

"And that was long ago, before Anubis attempted to ascend."

"Anubis defeated Telchak, but he never did find the device. It was believed to be hidden in one of Telchak's many temples."

"You think Anubis is behind this?" Hammond asked.

"He knew about the technology," Sam replied. "While he never actually found the device, he ultimately wouldn't need to."

"He would have gained access to the knowledge when he ascended," Daniel explained. "He could've built himself a new one."

Hammond shook his head slightly. "Still, it's only a guess."

"Yeah," Daniel admitted at the same time as Selmak said, "Yes."

"But, it's a good one," the archeologist added.

"The good news is, sir, the original Ancient device is probably still here on Earth," Sam said.

"If we could analyze the technology of this device, it might be possible to engineer a weapon we can use against these warriors," Selmak told the general.

"Not to mention the possibility of harnessing its power to heal."

Hammond nodded. "Very well. Doctor Jackson, take Doctor Lee and see what you can find. Dismissed."

They all got up and headed for the door, but Sam paused before going through.

"Sir, I really don't think they should be going alone," she said to the general.

"I understand your concern, Major, but it is vital that we keep this low key. Honduras knows nothing about the Stargate Program, and we definitely do not want them to find out about that device. Though we do have a military presence in the country, if, for some reason, the Honduran military was to confront the people we sent and found out that they are with the U.S. military and had come over from the States without explanation, questions would be asked, ones that could not be answered. Doctor Jackson, on the other hand, is an archeologist, which would be revealed in any check they did on him. It would not be suspicious for him to state that he was there searching for previously undiscovered Mayan ruins."

"And Doctor Lee? He's not an archeologist."

"No, but he is a physicist who has knowledge and skills that may be needed if the device is found."

Daniel looked at Sam, who was frowning, clearly not happy. "It's okay, Sam. I speak Spanish fluently and am familiar with the culture. We'll be fine." He turned to the general. "I'll make the arrangements, sir."

Sam was not the only one who wasn't happy about the idea of Daniel going alone with Doctor Lee to a potentially dangerous location. Jack had every intention of talking with Hammond about it, but Daniel stopped him.

"Look. You guys seem to be forgetting that, before I joined the program, I went on digs all over the planet," the archeologist said to his two teammates. "Not all of them were in safe places. I have, in fact, been to Honduras before."

"Yeah, but you weren't searching for deadly alien technology back then," Jack pointed out. "How are you going to get the thing out of the country, if you find it?"

"General Hammond's taking care of that. Once we get the Telchak device, _if_ we get it, we'll take it to the U.S. air base near Comayagua. It'll be boxed up and shipped out of the country on a military flight."

"We're just concerned, Daniel," Sam said. "We'd feel better if we were going with you."

"I know, Sam, and I do appreciate that. Um, I need to make arrangements for somebody to watch Danny. I haven't even told him yet that I'm leaving."

"When is your flight?" Jack asked.

"I lucked out and got one for tonight, 9:45."

"I hope you can get some sleep on the plane."

"I usually can. Don't know about Bill, though."

"I was planning on staying on base tonight, Daniel, so I can watch Danny," Sam said. "He can stay with me in my room. As for the rest of the time you're gone, I'm sure we can find plenty of volunteers."

"Have you guys talked with Jacob yet?" Jack asked.

"We've been just a little preoccupied, Jack," Daniel replied. "I really don't think we should get into it now. It'll be better to wait until after I'm back. Jacob will be here." He smiled. "But I do think we should introduce him to Danny."

"Oh, I _gotta_ see that."

The three of them went to get Danny, who was with Siler. The archeologist told the boy that he had to go out of town, explaining the bare minimum about the mission. Sam then told Danny that her father was at the SGC and asked if he'd like to meet Jacob. They found the Tok'ra in Sam's lab, studying the things they'd learned about Anubis' drone warrior.

"So, you find any other interesting things about Mister Universe, Jacob?" Jack asked as they came in the room.

The Tok'ra turned around to face them. "Actually. . . ." His voice trailed off when he saw the little boy standing beside Daniel. His eyes went to the archeologist, then back to the child. The resemblance was too striking to deny.

"Daniel, you didn't tell me you had a son," he said.

A huge grin spread over Danny's face. He looked up at Daniel. "Can I tell him?"

"Oh, please let me," Jack said before Daniel could reply. He turned to the Tok'ra and laid a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Jacob, I would like to introduce you to Daniel Jackson. And, no, I don't mean Daniel Jackson, Jr."

Jacob blinked in confusion. "What?"

"I'm a clone!" Danny announced, still grinning. "I'm Daniel's clone."

Jacob gaped at him. "A clone?" He looked at the others. "Would someone care to explain?"

"It's a long story, Dad," Sam responded.

"I have no doubt of that."

"The Reader's Digest version is that some people off-world got hold of a DNA sample from me and made Danny with it," Daniel explained. "We found out about it and brought him back with us. I'm taking care of him."

"Wow." Jacob shook his head, smiling slightly. "Well, you guys have definitely surprised me with this one. First Jack, now Daniel. Is this some new SGC epidemic going around? Sam? Please don't tell me you've been cloned, too."

"No, but I would have been if we hadn't found out about Danny."

Jacob's head shook again. "You guys are going to have to explain all of this to me after Daniel gets back."

Jack grinned. "Danny, there's somebody else you should meet. We told you that Jacob is Sam's father, but we didn't tell you something else." He looked at Jacob. "Hey, Selmak. Wanna come out and say hi?"

"Jack," Jacob said, frowning.

"Oh, it's okay. Danny knows about the Goa'uld, though he doesn't know about the Tok'ra."

Jacob's eyes went to the boy. He paused, then his head dipped.

"Greetings, Danny," said Selmak.

The boy's eyes grew huge. "How can you talk like that?"

"I am Selmak, a symbiote who lives within Jacob Carter's body."

Danny backed up a step, hiding partially behind Daniel. "You're a Goa'uld?"

"No, I am a Tok'ra."

"What's a Tok'ra?"

"The Tok'ra are a group of symbiotes who fight against the Goa'uld," Sam explained. "Physically, they are like the Goa'uld, but they're not evil. They are our allies."

"How come there's one inside your dad?"

"Because I was dying of cancer," Jacob explained, his voice now normal again. "Sam and General Hammond came to me and told me about the Stargate Program. They told me that, if I was willing to become a host to a Tok'ra, it could cure me. I accepted. Selmak saved my life, and, now, I live with the other Tok'ra, working with them against the Goa'uld."

"Then Selmak doesn't control your body and force you to do things?"

"No, the Tok'ra do not do that. The host and symbiote share control of the body. We're like partners."

"Wow. That's cool."

Jacob smiled. "Yes, it is."

"What's it like to have one inside you?"

"Well, I always have someone to talk to. We speak telepathically. Do you know what that is?"

Danny nodded.

"And I have all of the knowledge Selmak has gained. He's two thousand years old, so he knows a lot."

"Two thousand years? That's really old."

Jacob smiled again. "Yes, it is. If I'm hurt, Selmak can heal me very quickly, and I never get sick."

"Not even a cold?"

"Nope. Selmak kills the germs before they can make me sick. Also, people who are hosts to a Tok'ra live quite a long time, longer than a regular human."

"Some of the Goa'uld are thousands and thousands of years old. Will you live that long?"

"No. The Goa'uld live that long because of special technology that they use, technology that is also partly the reason why they're so evil. The Tok'ra don't use it because of that. If a person is fairly young when they are made a host to a Tok'ra, they can live for around two hundred years."

"If I wanted to be Tok'ra, could I be?" Danny asked.

"Whoa, now hold on there, Danny," Jack quickly said. "Don't go volunteering yourself. There's a whole lot you don't know. Besides, you're way too young to get snaked." He looked at Jacob apologetically. "Uh . . . sorry. You know I didn't really mean it like . . . like that."

"It's all right, Jack. Selmak and I both know what your feelings are regarding being a host," the Tok'ra said. He turned back to the boy. "If, when you are an adult, you want to become a Tok'ra, we would be delighted to have you, Danny, but, before that happened, you would have to understand what it means to be a Tok'ra. It's not any easy life. Also, you would have to leave Earth."

Danny frowned. "I'd have to leave Daniel and everybody else?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"Then I don't want to be one."

"Thank God," Jack muttered under his breath.

"Well, the time for such a decision is a very long ways off," Jacob said when a gentle smile. "You might change your mind."

Danny shook his head, moving closer to Daniel and taking his hand. "I want to be with Daniel forever. He's been taking care of me because Mom and Dad are dead."

Jacob looked at Daniel questioningly.

"Um . . . Danny has my memories from when I was his age, including the death of my parents."

"I'm sorry." Jacob gazed at the boy sympathetically, seeing how the child held Daniel's hand tightly.

"Well, I've got to get busy and pack," Daniel said. He turned to Jack and Teal'c. "I'll see you guys when I get back."

"Take great care, Daniel Jackson," the Jaffa advised.

"Yeah, what he said," Jack said.

Daniel went back to his office with Danny to gather some things for the trip.

"How long will you be gone?" the boy asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe two or three days. It depends on how long it takes us to find what we're looking for."

"I wish I could go with you."

"I'm afraid that the Honduran jungle isn't a good place for children, Danny."

"Is it dangerous?" the boy asked, getting worried.

"Um, yeah, a little. It's not the friendliest of places."

"Have you ever been there before?"

"Once, a long time ago on a dig."

"Why can't Uncle Jack go with you to help?"

"That's complicated," Daniel replied. "It's because he's in the military. The Honduran government might wonder why he was there, if they found out. I'm just an archeologist, so it's not a problem for me to go."

"And Doctor Lee? I like him. He's nice."

"Bill's going because he has knowledge that might come in handy."

After putting everything he figured he'd need into his backpack, Daniel took Danny to Sam's lab. She was there with her father.

"Hey, I need to get going," the archeologist said. "I have to go home and pack some clothes. You want me to take Danny to your quarters?"

"No, I can do that," Sam replied. "Danny can stay with us for a little while."

"Okay. Um . . . I guess I'll see you in a couple of days or so, then." He gazed at Sam, wanting to kiss her and trying to hide the desire.

"Okay. Uh, wait. I'll walk with you to the locker room. Dad, can you watch Danny for a bit?"

"Sure, no problem. Is that all right with you, Danny?"

"Uh huh."

Daniel gave Danny a big hug. "I'll see you soon. Be good."

"I will."

Sam accompanied Daniel out of the lab. As soon as they were on the elevator and heading down, Sam went into Daniel's arms. Their lips met, just a hint of desperation in the kiss.

"I'm going to be worried until you get back," Sam said as their lips parted.

"I know. It'll be all right, Sam. I'm just hoping that it's not a wasted trip. Nick spent years trying to find that place."

"Yes, but he couldn't read Goa'uld, so he didn't have the information you do. And he wasn't you. If anyone can find that device, it's you."

Daniel smiled. "Thanks. It's nice to know that you have so much confidence in me."

Sam also smiled. "Always have and always will."

They separated as the doors opened. Sam stayed on the elevator.

"Be careful," she called out as Daniel started down the hall.

He turned to look at her. "I will."

"Love you."

"Love you, too."

Sam let the doors close and pushed the button to go back up, trying to ignore the worry she was feeling.

* * *

The next day, Sam, Teal'c, Hammond and Bra'tac stood in the briefing room, discussing the problem with the drone warriors. Jacob had gone back to the Tok'ra to fill them in on everything.

Bra'tac believed that, if Anubis really was behind the drones, his strategy was to kill any minor Goa'uld who were vulnerable to attack, then absorbing their troops and resources in preparation for battle with Ba'al and the other System Lords. At least three other minor Goa'uld had been attacked by the soldiers, with devastating results. Everyone was concerned that it was only a matter of time before Earth was attacked.

"These beings are a great threat to all who hope to one day see the Goa'uld wither in defeat," Bra'tac said.

Hammond knew that the Jaffa was right. "If Doctor Jackson can recover this Ancient device. . . ."

"Even if he does, there is no guarantee the Tok'ra can devise a weapon capable of fending off these warriors."

"We were only able to learn a limited amount from our study of the dead warrior and its armor," Sam said.

"The only way to learn more is through interrogation," Teal'c stated.

"Which means we have to capture one alive." 


	37. Chapter 37

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Capturing one of the warriors alive proved not to be so easy. In fact, it was pretty much a catastrophe. They'd guessed that, because he escaped the first attempt on his life, Ramius would be a prime target for another attack. Sam determined that, though the armor of the drones was impervious to bullets and all forms of energy weapons, something small and sharp would penetrate the bodysuit portion of the armor. The plan was to stake out the Stargate on Ramius' planet and capture one of the warriors when it came through, tranquilizing it with a dart.

But things didn't work out that way. After waiting quite a while for one of the drones to show up, when it finally did, their plan proved to be totally ineffective. The tranquilizer appeared to have no effect on the soldier, and the force field that was supposed to trap it didn't stop it. It walked right through the field. Everyone opened fire on the drone, but it was completely unfazed, its energy weapons killing the three rebel Jaffa and wounding Colonel Reynolds.

They tried to blow it up with Claymores, but it did no good. Next, they tried C-4, enough to bring down an Al'Kesh. The massive explosion didn't put a mark on the thing. It kept right on walking.

And then things _really_ got bad. Apparently, the big commotion had drawn the attention of Ramius' Jaffa, and they descended upon the SGC personnel and Bra'tac. Everyone had no choice but to surrender.

They were all locked in a cell. Jack's attempt to convince Ramius that they didn't come to kill him failed spectacularly. Fortunately for the good guys, their guess that the drone Sam had newly christened "supersoldier" would attack the fortress to kill Ramius proved to be right. It wasn't so fortunate for the Goa'uld. He was killed while trying to escape through the rings. Teal'c and Bra'tac had spoken with one of the Jaffa guarding them, telling him that Ramius wasn't invincible and would attempt to flee like a coward, leaving his people to die for him. When that Jaffa realized that they had been right, he freed them.

After that, they had another success. Sam came up with a plan for capturing the supersoldier. They ringed the escaping drone up into the hold of one of Ramius' cargo ships. Then they voided the atmosphere from the hold. It took ten minutes, but the supersoldier finally lost consciousness. At last, their mission was successful.

* * *

_'Oh, this is **so** not good,'_ was the thought going through Daniel's mind.

After arriving in Honduras and traveling twenty miles by land, Daniel and Bill had met up with their guide, Rogelio, at Cantina LaLupita, and the man reluctantly agreed to take them south, insisting all the while that they would find no Mayan temples there, that all the ruins were to the north. When they arrived at the location Daniel and Jacob had determined was where the temple harboring the device should be, there appeared to be nothing there. Daniel told everyone to start searching. Quite suddenly, Bill discovered the temple – when he fell into it. It turned out that the temple was hidden underground, which explained why no one had ever found it.

Daniel and Bill went down into the ruins and followed a narrow passageway that ended in a chamber with no exit. It was devoid of any sort of writing or symbols, giving no clues as to where the device might be hidden. But then Daniel thought of something. The legend of the Fountain of Youth said that all nearby water flowed toward it. Taking Bill's canteen, Daniel poured water on the floor of the chamber. The water flowed toward a spot in the floor, then through a crack in the mortar between the stones. Daniel put his ear to the floor and heard the falling water striking a hard surface, which told him that there was a hidden compartment beneath the floor. He and Bill pried up one of the stones, and there it was, the Telchak device.

Their triumph was short-lived. No sooner had they removed the device when a trap was sprung. The chamber began filling up with water very rapidly. As they attempted to escape through the narrow passageway, it seemed certain that they'd drown. But, even as Daniel's lungs were screaming for air, and he didn't think he could last another moment, he found the exit. Rogelio helped him and Bill out.

Unfortunately, things did not improve from there, for appearing out of the jungle were four armed men. They took Daniel, Bill and Rogelio captive and forced them to march, blindfolded, through the jungle. At one point, Rogelio apparently tried to escape and was shot.

Now, Daniel and Bill were being held captive in a shack within a small encampment, wondering what was going to happen next. The archeologist didn't know who their captors were, although he was guessing that they were Honduran rebels. His attempts to convince the leader that he and Bill were just archeologists and no ransom would be paid for them hadn't worked.

What worried Daniel the most was that the rebels had the Telchak device. If they accidentally turned the thing on, they could all be in very big trouble. Not that he and Bill weren't already in very big trouble. They were overdue for their scheduled check-in, and, sooner or later, people would begin to suspect that something had happened. The problem was that nobody knew where they were.

Daniel's thoughts turned to Danny, worried about how the boy was going to react when he was told that Daniel was missing. This had to end okay. Danny couldn't lose someone else he loved so soon. And Sam. Sam would be devastated.

Daniel vowed that, no matter what it took, he would get home to the people he loved.

* * *

The supersoldier, stripped of its main armor and wearing only the bodysuit, was imprisoned by metal bands around its limbs and neck, standing upright and unable to move. Bra'tac and Teal'c were in the isolation room with it, hoping to find out who it served and from where it came. In the observation room above were Jacob, Sam and General Hammond.

"Who do you serve?" Bra'tac asked, approaching it. "Hmm? Speak!"

"I serve Anubis," the drone said, confirming their suspicions.

"How were you created?" Teal'c asked.

The supersoldier made some noises, but did not reply. Bra'tac turned to the people watching up in the observation room and shook his head. Hammond nodded once in silent reply.

"I think it's safe to assume they're not going to get anything more out of him," the general said to the two people in the room with him. "Have you found anything else?"

"Our initial scans indicate below normal brainwave patterns emanating from both the symbiote and the host," Sam replied. "Basically, he's got all the strength and healing powers of a normal Goa'uld, but none of the normal personality traits."

"The Goa'uld use sophisticated brainwashing techniques," Jacob said.

"I'm open to suggestions," the general told them. "How can we find out what it knows, if anything?"

"There is one possibility," Jacob answered. "We may be able to use a memory recall device to access any conscious images in its mind as it thinks them."

"Do it."

Hammond left the room. As he headed for the elevator, an airman approached him. The general listened to the news the man was bringing, deeply concerned.

He had just dismissed the man when he heard Jack call out to him. He turned to the colonel.

"Any word from Daniel?" Jack asked.

"No. Doctor Jackson is now six hours overdue per his regular contact schedule."

"That's late, even for Daniel."

"The Honduran government has assured the State Department they're looking into it. They've sent some people to their last reported location. So far, they've found nothing."

_'Crap. I do not have a good feeling about this.'_ "Sir—"

Hammond held up his hand, halting Jack's statement. "I know what you're going to say, and the answer is no, at least not yet. Let's wait to see what the Hondurans find out. Doctor Jackson and Doctor Lee may just have run into a little trouble that's preventing them from reporting in. It could be as simple as their radio not working."

"Or they could be in really big trouble. Sir, you know as well as I do that they should never have been sent there without backup. I had a bad feeling about this right from the start."

"I understand, Colonel, but it's the way it had to be. We couldn't risk having the Honduran government getting suspicious or even finding out about the device and confiscating it. As it is, they are now asking uncomfortable questions about Doctor Jackson and Doctor Lee, wondering what they were doing and why the State Department seems so concerned about them."

"Yeah, well, all I care about right now is that we find them, alive and well. There's a little boy on this base who's waiting for Daniel to come home, and I'll be damned if I'm going to tell him that Daniel's not ever coming home again."

Jack went in search of the others and found Sam, Teal'c and Bra'tac in the observation room overlooking the captured drone.

The major noticed the frown on his face. "Sir, what's wrong?"

"Daniel hasn't reported in. He's six hours overdue. Some people were sent to where he and Lee were last known to be, but they didn't find any sign of them."

"What?" Sam exclaimed. "Does anyone have any idea what happened?"

"No, not yet."

"What is to be done?" Teal'c asked, frowning.

"They'll keep searching the area, I'd guess, try to find some clue to where Daniel and Lee are."

"Dammit! I knew we should have gone with them," Sam cursed.

"I agree, Carter. All we can do now is hope that they're okay."

"What am I going to tell Danny?"

"Nothing for right now. There's no point in worrying the kid yet. Let's just wait to see what the Honduran government finds out." Jack looked about. "Where's Jacob?"

"He's getting one of the memory recall devices so we can use it on the supersoldier. The soldier is refusing to talk, and we think we may be able to get some information with the memory device."

Jack nodded. "Okay. Let me know what you find out."

* * *

Jacob stood at the elevator, waiting for the doors to open. When they did, he was surprised to see Danny before him, with no adult in sight.

"Hi, Jacob," the boy greeted with a smile.

"Danny, what are you doing wandering around all by yourself?" the Tok'ra asked as he stepped into the elevator.

"I'm not wandering around, I'm going to the commissary," Danny corrected. "I'm allowed to go there by myself. Jack said we haven't had any alien monsters attack the commissary yet, although he sometimes thinks that the people who cook the food are alien monsters in disguise." Danny paused for a moment. "He was joking about that last part."

Jacob smiled in amusement. "Ah, I see. Well, would it be okay if I accompanied you there anyway?"

"Yeah."

Jacob studied the child, more than a little curious about this eight-year-old version of Daniel. "So, do you like living with Daniel?"

"Uh huh. I have to pretend that he's my father sometimes because not everybody knows that I'm a clone. But that's okay. Daniel is almost like my real dad. We're a family."

"I'm glad to hear that." Jacob couldn't help but think that it was pretty interesting that Daniel was now a father to a copy of himself.

The doors opened on Level 22, and the two of them headed down the corridor toward the commissary.

"I'll be glad when Sam moves in with us," Danny said. "Then we'll all be a family."

Jacob came to a dead stop, staring at the boy. "Sam is going to move in with you and Daniel?"

"Well, they haven't really said anything else about it, but when I asked if she was, Sam said 'not yet', so that means that she will someday, right?"

"Uhhhh," was about all Jacob could manage to get out, his shock having rendered him speechless.

Jacob walked with Danny the rest of the way to the commissary, then returned to the elevator to resume his journey back to the observation room. When he got there, his gaze when straight to Sam. He noticed that she appeared to be very concerned about something.

"What's up?" he asked.

Sam told her father the news about Daniel. He watched her intently as she spoke, seeing the worry in her eyes.

"I'm sure he'll be all right, Sam," Jacob assured his daughter. "Daniel is a tough man to kill." He wanted to ask her about what Danny had said, but this was neither the time nor the place for that.

A call was put in to Hammond, and he joined them down in the isolation room to witness the resumption of the interrogation. As he, Sam, Teal'c and Bra'tac watched, Jacob prepared to use the memory recall device on the drone warrior. The holographic projector that worked in conjunction with the device had been set up on a table.

"If his brainwaves are compatible with the device, we should be able to see whatever he's thinking holographically," the Tok'ra explained. He placed the tiny disk that was the memory device on the supersoldier's temple.

Teal'c approached it. "What is your planet of origin?"

A few seconds passed, then the image of a star field was formed by the holographic projector.

"That's the sky above his planet," Jacob assumed.

"I don't recognize any of these star configurations," Sam said. "This could be anywhere."

"We have star mapping technology that should be able to pinpoint this location in the galaxy." Jacob smiled. "He just gave us his homeworld."

Teal'c turned to the warrior, a smile of triumph on his face.

"I'll take the data back to the Tok'ra base," Jacob said. "It might take a while to find out what star system that is."

* * *

As they waited for Jacob to return, the thing that was mostly on the minds of Jack, Sam and Teal'c was not Anubis or the warriors he had created, but their missing teammate. With each passing hour without news of Daniel, their fears increased. Sam didn't dare go to visit Danny. She knew that she wouldn't be able to hide her concern. Instead, she called him and asked what he was doing.

"I'm using the Italian language program Daniel bought me," the boy said. "It's way better than language tapes. I've already learned a whole bunch of stuff."

"Daniel will be very proud of you," Sam responded, keeping her voice light with an effort.

"When is he coming home? I miss him."

Sam closed her eyes briefly, swallowing. "I know. I miss him, too. I don't know when he'll be home, Danny. Soon, I hope." Sam cleared the lump from her throat. "Uh, I've got to go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Sam."

Sam hung up the phone. "Please be all right, Daniel," she whispered.

At that moment, an unscheduled off-world activation was announced. Figuring that it was probably her father returning, Sam went to the gate room to meet him. They both went up to the briefing room. General Hammond was on the phone in his office, apparently deep in conversation.

Jacob filled Sam in on what they'd learned, handing her a data disk.

Just then, Jack, Teal'c and Bra'tac came in.

"Whatcha got?" the colonel asked.

Sam asked her father to turn down the lights as she loaded the data onto the computer and had the star map display on the briefing room screen. The gate address of the planet was shown as well.

"The Tok'ra call it Tartarus," she told her teammates and Bra'tac. "It's a seemingly unoccupied planet on the edge of Goa'uld controlled space."

"The Tok'ra are currently trying to get as close as they can to assess any defenses that might be there," Jacob said.

At that moment, Hammond came in from his office. The look on his face sent Sam's stomach into her shoes. Something was wrong.

"Sir?" she inquired.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news. I just received a communiqué from the State Department in Washington. It appears that Daniel Jackson and Doctor Lee have been kidnapped. Our best guess is they've crossed the border into Nicaragua. However, as of this moment, we have no idea where they are."

Jack and Sam shared a look of deep worry.

"Sir, is there anything at all that we can do?" Sam asked the general.

"I'm afraid not. At least not at this time."

"What's the plan?" Jack asked.

"An attempt will be made to find out who the kidnappers are and what they want. Beyond that, I cannot say yet."

"We have to get them out," Sam said.

"Everything possible will be done to bring them home, Major," Hammond assured her. "I will let all of you know the moment I hear anything."

"Thank you, sir," Jack said.

He and the others left the briefing room. Not surprisingly, they went to Daniel's office.

"This shouldn't have happened," Sam said. "If we'd been with him. . . ."

"It might still have happened, Carter," Jack told her. "We don't know how many there were or how well armed."

"But at least we'd be with Daniel, not here wondering if he's okay."

"I, too, would prefer to be at Daniel Jackson's side," Teal'c stated. "Together, we would have had a greater chance to escape from these people who have taken him and Doctor Lee."

Jack sighed. "Yeah. I've been thinking that, too. But Daniel's a resourceful kind of guy, and he's tough, too. He'll be okay." He wasn't sure if he spoke the words to reassure his teammates or himself.

"Oh, God. I have to tell Danny," Sam said. "How am I going to tell him this?"

"We'll do it together, Carter."

Jack and Sam went to Daniel's quarters, dreading what they'd have to tell the child who loved Daniel so much.

Danny was sitting at the desk, working on the computer. As they entered the room, he turned around and saw the looks on their faces.

"What's wrong?" he asked, immediately getting scared. "Is it Daniel? Did something happen to him?"

Sam sat on the nearby bed. "Danny, there's been trouble. Some people have kidnapped Daniel and Doctor Lee."

"Kidnapped? But why? Do they want money?"

Jack went down on one knee beside the boy's chair. "We don't know, yet, Danny. Right now, we don't even know who has them."

Danny's eyes filled with tears. "But you're going to go rescue them, right?"

"We don't know where they are," Sam replied, holding back her own tears.

"But we're going to find out," Jack assured the boy. "Then we'll do all we can to get them back."

Danny lunged toward the colonel, throwing his arms around him. Jack hugged him back, pressing his face into the child's neck. Dammit. This had to turn out all right. They had to get Daniel back, for Danny's sake and everyone else's.

The colonel looked at Sam and saw that she was holding onto her control by the skin of her teeth.

"I'll stay with him, Carter," he told her softly.

Nodding, Sam fled the room and headed straight to her lab. She collapsed into a chair, resting her head in her hands.

It wasn't long before a hand was laid upon her shoulder, startling her. She looked up to see her father gazing at her in concern.

"Sam?"

The major wiped her tears away. "I'm sorry. The colonel and I just told Danny about Daniel. He's so scared, Dad. He loves Daniel so much. After all he's already gone through, he can't lose another person he loves. He just can't."

Jacob stared at his daughter, seeing how terribly upset she was. After Daniel ascended, Sam had cried for hours in Jacob's arms. He had known then that she loved Daniel very much, but he had believed that it was just a very close, loving friendship. Now, however, he realized that there was a lot more to it than that.

"Sam, what's going on?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"What are your feelings toward Daniel?"

Sam mouth opened, her eyes widening slightly. "I-I. . . ."

"You love him, don't you, and not just as a friend."

Sam sighed, her eyes closing. "Yes." She looked at him. "Yes, I love him, more than anything in the world."

"For how long?"

"I really don't know, a lot longer than I've been aware of it."

"And Daniel?"

"He loves me, too. We're in a relationship now. We were going to tell you after he got back."

So, what Danny had told him was true. "How long has this been going on?"

"Not very long. We only started dating a few weeks ago. He means so much to me, Dad. I have never loved anyone like I love him. And, now, I'm so afraid that I'm going to lose him."

Jacob went to his daughter and took her into his arms, praying that the man she loved would be all right.

* * *

Nobody got much sleep that night. Danny, who stayed with Jack in his quarters, finally went to sleep at around eleven, but had several nightmares, from which Jack kept having to awaken him. Every time he held the weeping child, telling Danny that it was just a bad dream and Daniel was going to be okay, Jack prayed with all his might that he was right. He wanted to be doing something, to be on a flight to Honduras to go find Daniel. But, until they knew more, there was nothing they could do.

The next day was torture for Danny and the three members of SG-1. Jacob had returned to the Tok'ra base, where the High Council was discussing plans to infiltrate Anubis' base on Tartarus. Bra'tac was gone as well. He would be returning tomorrow.

Wednesday night was another restless night for everyone. That night, Danny stayed with Sam. Every time he cried from a nightmare, she cried with him. She felt like her heart was breaking, that the pain of the little boy in her arms was her own.

The next morning, Jack went to Hammond's office yet again. The general was talking to someone on the red phone.

"Thank you, sir," Hammond said. "Yes, I do as well." He hung up the phone. "The State Department has received a ransom demand for Doctor Jackson and Doctor Lee." He turned to face Jack. "We've been given seventy-two hours to pay or they will be killed."

"Do they know who's behind it?"

"The kidnappers haven't identified themselves, but intel indicates we're dealing with Honduran anti-government revolutionaries. They're following the book on this one. Officially, they have no intention of paying any ransom."

"Unofficially?"

"Our ties with the Honduran government are at stake. No one is willing to risk breaking policy over this."

Jack knew what that meant. No ransom would be paid. "So, we send a team in to extract 'em. We've done it before."

"Obviously, the rebels are betting that our tenuous relationship with the Nicaraguan government will prevent us from taking action. But they're wrong. I've called the president, and he's agreed to help. As we speak, he's requesting that the CIA gather whatever intel they can. But whether he's willing to risk an international incident. . . ."

Though Jack didn't express his thoughts aloud, he really didn't give a damn about an international incident. All he cared about was getting Daniel back.

"Thank you, sir," he said.

"I'll let you know the second I hear anything."

Upon hearing the news, Sam became even more worried. Honduran revolutionaries could be brutal. What might they be doing to Daniel and Bill? They'd already had the two men captive for at least a day and a half. The only good news was that the president was now involved and would probably okay a rescue mission. But would it be in time?

A chilling thought froze Sam's mind. What if Daniel and Bill were already dead? There was no proof that they were alive, only the word of the rebels. The two men could have been killed within hours of being taken.

No. No, that couldn't be. Daniel had to be alive. Sam could not accept anything else.

Everyone decided not to tell Danny the news that they had only three days to get Daniel out before he was killed. They did, however, tell him that the president would probably let them go rescue the kidnapped men.

Jack and Sam had both remained on base since learning of his disappearance. They'd wanted to be there for any news that came in. As the second day since their friend's kidnapping dragged on, every one of the people who loved him were plagued with the fear that they might never see him again.

* * *

Daniel looked out through the crack between two boards of the shack that had been his and Bill's prison for the past two days. The sun was around an hour from setting. Neither of the men had been given any water since the dirty half a cupful that Rafael, the rebel leader, let them have perhaps a couple of hours after they were first put in the shack. They had been given no food at all. Both men were suffering from dehydration and were beginning to weaken from hunger. Right now, Daniel felt like he'd sell every worldly possession he owned for a tall glass of water.

On the first day, Rafael came to the shack and questioned them, wanting to know who they worked for. Daniel had insisted that they were just archeologists, but the man didn't believe him. When the rebel threatened to kill one of them to get the U.S. Government's attention, Daniel got angry and threatened back, telling Rafael that very powerful people were going to come for them, and he'd be sorry if he didn't release them now. The man didn't believe him and left. Daniel just hoped that what he said was true, that people were working on finding and rescuing them.

Since then, Rafael had come and talked to them several more times. Neither Daniel nor Bill said anything in response to the questioning. They'd both been punched in the gut a few times, but not hard enough to cause any internal damage. Daniel had also been hit in the face. He was the one they'd focused on the most. The archeologist didn't think it was because Rafael thought he was the weaker of the two. On the contrary, it was clear that the rebels knew Daniel was the leader. Perhaps it was for that reason that he was targeted more. Regardless of the reason, Daniel was glad of it. Every time the rebels hit Bill, it hurt Daniel more than when he was hit himself. Bill shouldn't be here. He had no experience with this kind of thing, whereas Daniel was no stranger to captivity and torture, both physical and psychological.

At that moment, the door to the shack was opened, and Daniel was taken out. The rebels roughly took him to the hut that was apparently some kind of command center and possibly Rafael's quarters. He was forced to sit in a chair. Rafael was sitting on the edge of a table, which held fresh pineapple and clean water. Daniel tried not to show how much he wanted it as the rebel leader poured some water into a cup.

Rafael drank noisily from the cup. "You've not had water or food for two days." He ate a piece of the pineapple. "Mm. Mmmm. Muy delicioso. Pick of the season. This is very good." He threw away what was left of the piece of fruit he was eating, his eyes fastened on Daniel. "Today, we're going to start slow." He stood and walked around the table. "I'm going to ask you again." He removed a cloth, revealing the Telchak device. "What is this?"

Daniel took a steadying breath, but did not reply. _'Don't think about the water. Don't think about the water,'_ he told himself. God, he wanted that water so badly, and the pineapple, too. He'd never been a huge lover of pineapple, but, right now, he'd eat a whole one in a single sitting.

The rebel leader noted his silence. "And this is the part where you do not talk. Okay." He took another bite of pineapple, then waved the piece in front of Daniel's face. "Hmm? For you," he touched the piece of fruit to Daniel's lips, then took it away, "and your friend, if you tell me what this is." When Daniel still didn't speak, he sighed. "I don't know how long someone can go without food, but I believe the human body needs water every three or four days." He took another drink from the cup.

God, this was almost worse than being ribboned, Daniel thought. "It's an ancient artifact," he said in a subdued voice.

"An artifact?"

"Yeah. I'm-I'm an archaeologist. That's what I do. I-I-I look for . . . artifacts. And, um, uh . . ." he let out a little laugh that was one part exhaustion, the other part nervousness, "found one." His smile died. "Seriously, I-I'm an archaeologist. You guys can look me up on the internet, if you want." He looked over his shoulder at the two men behind him. "You have a computer?"

"It all makes perfect sense," Rafael said. "You're nothing more than an archaeologist, and you find and study artifacts."

"Makes perfect sense," Daniel agreed wearily.

"Hmm. I'm going to ask you one last time. What is this?" Daniel clammed up. "And again, you're not so talkative. What gives you the right to come into our country and steal valuable artifacts? You call yourself a scientist? You're nothing but a thief. And you think you're better than me. But I have reasons for what I do."

"I don't doubt that."

Apparently, Daniel's statement angered the rebel leader.

"Chalo," he said to one of the men.

Chalo went over to another table and uncovered a car battery with jumper cables attached to it. Also attached to the battery was some copper wire, which wound around another object on the table. The rebel rubbed the ends of the jumper cable together, making them spark. Daniel flinched, turning his face away.

"And here's something else you should not doubt, compadre," Rafael said, seeing fear in Daniel's eyes for the first time. "You will tell me what I want to know."

Daniel stared at the battery fearfully. He knew what it would do to him, the agony he'd suffer.

Rafael gestured at Chalo, who covered the battery back up. "How about if we let you think about that tonight, think about how very painful it would be to have all that electricity flow though your body. Personally, I've never experienced it, but I've seen many a strong man cry like an infant and beg for mercy."

Daniel didn't tell the man that he already knew what it felt like to have that kind of power scorch through his body. A zat blast wasn't exactly the same thing, but it probably felt somewhat the same. And then there was what the Bedrosians did to him. When they found the DHD and asked Daniel what it was, he'd told them with complete honesty. Not surprisingly, Rigar didn't believe him. They started in on him with the weapon the man had used to render Jack and Sam unconscious in their cages. It had apparently been put on a lower setting, however. Instead of knocking him out, it just hurt like hell and made it impossible to breathe while he was being shocked. Rigar used it a couple times, then got frustrated and tossed him back into his cage. After that, Daniel swore that he'd never look at cattle prods the same way again.

Daniel was taken back to the shack.

"What happened?" Bill asked him anxiously.

"I think we'd better really start hoping that help is on the way." 


	38. Chapter 38

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Jack looked down at the sleeping child on the bed. So far, there had been no nightmares, but it was way too early to assume that there wouldn't be any.

The clock was ticking down to the moment when Daniel and Bill would be executed, and the SGC still hadn't received any word on what was going to be done, and the location of the kidnapped men was still unknown.

Jack sighed and rubbed his temples to easy the headache there. It was very likely that he, Sam and Teal'c would be going on a mission to Tartarus, but, like his two teammates, he'd rather be heading off to Honduras to rescue Daniel. They had all talked, however, and agreed that, if one of them was needed to help rescue Daniel, it would be Jack who'd go. He could speak the language and had experience with extraction missions in foreign countries on Earth.

The phone rang. It was General Hammond.

"I didn't know that you were still here, sir," Jack said.

"Like you and your teammates, I haven't left the base since we learned that Doctor Jackson and Doctor Lee were missing. I wanted to be here in case there was news."

"And do you have news?"

"Yes, I was just contacted by the CIA. I'd like you to come to my office to discuss it."

Jack got to his feet. "I'll be right there, sir."

Hoping that Danny would be okay by himself for a while, Jack left the room and went to Hammond's office.

"The CIA operative in Honduras, an Agent Burke, believes he knows where Doctor Jackson and Doctor Lee were taken," the general announced when he got there.

"Burke?"

Hammond saw Jack's expression. "You know him?"

Jack paused before answering. "Yes, I do." _'Unfortunately,'_ he added silently.

"Anything I should know about? He's the only agent on this."

"We're stuck with him regardless, right?"

"Right."

Jack thought about his reply. "Nothing you should know about."

"I see. He's requested that you participate in the extraction. The president has green-lit the op. There's a C-130 waiting for you at Peterson. It leaves for Honduras in two hours."

"Yes, sir." Jack got to his feet.

"Bring them home, Jack."

"I will, sir."

Guessing that Sam was still working, Jack went to her lab.

As he came in, the astrophysicist looked up from the device she was working on. "Sir?"

"I'm going after Daniel."

Sam felt a wave of relief. "Thank God."

"This other mission. . . ."

"Shouldn't be a problem, sir. When do you leave?"

"Now."

Sam smiled slightly, so relieved that they were finally going to do something to save Daniel. "Good luck."

"You, too."

"What about Danny, sir? Is he in your quarters?"

"Yeah. He was sleeping when I left, so, hopefully, he'll be all right alone for a while."

Sam nodded. "I'll go check on him in a little while."

Jack turned to go. Sam's voice stopped him.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Tell Daniel that I love him."

Jack gave her a small smile and a nod. "I will, Sam."

Jack decided to peek in on Danny just to make sure he was still okay. When he got there, it was to discover that the boy was now awake and looked like he had been crying. Damn. He must have had another nightmare.

Jack knelt beside the bed, his face a few inches from Danny's. "We got the okay for the rescue mission, Danny. I'm going to go find Daniel. I'm going find him and bring him home."

Danny flung himself into Jack's arms. "Take me with you," he begged.

"Danny, I can't. It's too dangerous."

"But I can find him! Daniel found me when I was in the car accident. I can find him. I know I can! Please, Uncle Jack," Danny sobbed. "I can help you. I have to help find him."

Jack's eyes clenched shut at the desperate, heartbreaking plea in the boy's voice. "I can't, Danny. I'm so sorry. I can't take you with me. It's just too dangerous. If you got hurt, Daniel would never forgive me . . . and I'd never forgive myself." He pulled back and held Danny's tear-coated face. "I _am_ going to find him, Danny. I swear I will, no matter what it takes."

It just about broke Jack's heart to leave the boy, to see the terrified plea in Danny's eyes. He called Sam and told her that Danny needed someone, and she promised to go right over there.

As Jack took the elevator up to the surface, he knew that, if he failed that little boy, if he failed Daniel, he'd blame himself for the rest of his life.

* * *

The sun had been up for perhaps a couple of hours when Daniel was again taken from the shack. He knew what was about to happen, and, in a way, that was worse than the act itself. He'd spent a good part of the night thinking about it, which was probably why Rafael had waited to do the actual deed, figuring that a night of thinking about the torture to come would loosen Daniel's tongue. He was going to be disappointed. The archeologist still had no intention of talking.

He was tied to a chair near the table holding the battery, which was displayed for him to see.

"So, have you reconsidered your position, senor?" Rafael asked. Daniel's reply was silence. "I guess not. Very well, then." He motioned for Chalo to pick up the jumper cables. Daniel tensed as the man approached him. One of the others lifted his T-shirt to bare his stomach.

_'You can get through this,'_ he told himself. And then the ends of the cables were touched to his skin. Agonizing fire burned through his body, through every muscle and sinew, a silent scream echoing through his mind.

* * *

Sam splashed some cold water on her face. The shower hadn't done much to wake her up this morning. She'd overslept, not having gotten to sleep last night until after three. At least the reason for that hadn't been Danny. Once he stopped crying, she'd brought him to her quarters. He was soon asleep and did not have any more nightmares. Perhaps the knowledge that Jack was off to rescue Daniel had been enough to chase away the bad dreams.

In the next instant, a piercing scream sent Sam running from the bathroom. Danny was curled into a tight ball on the bed, screaming and crying. For a moment, Sam thought he was having one of the dreaded nightmares, but his eyes were open and filled with horror. She rushed up to him.

"They're hurting him! They're hurting him!" Danny wailed. "He's hurting!"

Sam took his stiff body into her arms. "Danny, stop! It was just a nightmare."

"No! They're hurting him! He's screaming. I can feel him screaming." The boy's body began shaking with sobs.

Oh, God. The telepathic connection. Daniel's kidnappers were hurting him, and Danny could sense it. Dear God. What were they doing to Daniel?

Sam snatched up the phone and called the infirmary. Within a minute, Janet was there. She paused in dismay upon seeing Danny curled against Sam, rocking back and forth, whimpering like someone in terrible pain.

Sam quickly explained what was happening.

Trying not to think about what was being done to Daniel, Janet said, "Let's get him to the infirmary."

Sam gathered the child into her arms and ran with Janet to the infirmary. As soon as they got there, Janet snapped off an order for a sedative and for someone to call General Hammond. Danny was put on a bed and injected with the fast-acting sedative. His whimpers gradually faded away into silence.

Sam wiped tears from her face that she hadn't even known she was crying. "What are they doing to him, Janet?" she whispered in anguish.

The doctor laid a hand on her arm. "I don't know, Sam, but Daniel's strong. He'll get through it. The colonel will be in Honduras soon. They'll get him out."

General Hammond and Teal'c came hurrying in. They stared, dismayed, at the unconscious child.

"What happened?" the general asked.

"It's Daniel, sir," Sam replied. "They're hurting him."

"Has the boy sensed that Daniel Jackson is being harmed?" Teal'c asked, a distinct growl in his tone.

Sam was holding onto her tears with an effort. "Yes. He suddenly started screaming and saying that they're hurting Daniel."

"I had no choice but to sedate him," Janet explained. "I'll keep him under until we know that Daniel's been rescued."

General Hammond's jaw was clenched tightly as he thought about the suffering Daniel was being put through and the suffering it was causing this innocent little boy.

"Doctor Fraiser, let me know immediately if there are any changes," he ordered, then left.

Sam got a chair and put it beside Danny's bed.

"Do you wish me to remain with you, Major Carter?" Teal'c asked.

"No, that's okay. I'm all right." No, she wasn't, but she was not going to admit that.

"O'Neill will rescue Daniel Jackson," the Jaffa stated firmly. "Of that I am certain."

Sam looked up at him. "Thanks, Teal'c."

Sam's gaze returned to Danny, her hand reaching out to caress his hair. Against her will, a horrible, gut-wrenching thought came to her that made her hand still. What would happen to Danny if Daniel died? Would the boy feel his death? Would it be like Danny was dying as well?

_'Don't think that!'_ Sam yelled at herself silently. Daniel wasn't going to die. They still had two days before the deadline. And what just happened was proof that Daniel was still alive, which meant that the rebels probably had every intention of keeping him alive until the deadline had passed. That was good news. But what were they doing to him? Were they torturing him? Sam knew that they were.

This would not be Daniel's first experience with torture. There were the times that he was ribboned, which could be considered a form of torture, and there was the incident with the Bedrosians. She, Jack and Teal'c would probably never have even known what Rigar did to Daniel if it wasn't for the medical report. Daniel had no choice but to tell Janet about what happened to him. She, in turn, reported it to General Hammond. The general told Jack, who was pretty pissed off that Daniel had kept it from his teammates. Judging by the way the colonel acted, he was probably also wishing that he could tear Rigar limb from limb.

Sam could only hope that, whatever torture Daniel was suffering now, it was something from which he would recover.

* * *

Daniel knew that he was being dragged, but he couldn't move. He couldn't think. He didn't know how many times the battery had been used, how many times Rafael demanded that he speak. He only knew, with hazy certainty, that he had not told the man what he wanted to know. And so, the battery had been used again, and again, and again, until Daniel thought his cells would rupture from the power ripping though them. Probably the only reason why Rafael stopped was that, if he'd used the battery one more time, Daniel would have been beyond the rebel's ability to wake up. The archeologist wished that he _was_ unconscious, that the blessedness of sleep would come and take away the pain.

Daniel felt himself being dropped on the hard ground. With what remained of his awareness, he heard Bill Lee's scared voice crying, "I don't know anything! I don't know anything!" Then he was alone. Moments later, the darkness at last closed over his mind.

* * *

Sam was still at Danny's bedside when she heard the announcement of an off-world activation. Knowing that it might be her father, she rose and left the infirmary. She found Jacob, Teal'c, Bra'tac and General Hammond in the briefing room.

Jacob immediately noticed her reddened eyes and the expression on her face. "What's wrong? Is it Daniel? George just told me that you found out where he is, and Jack's gone off to get him."

Sam drew in a shaky breath. "They're hurting him, Dad, badly."

"How do you know?"

"Danny."

"What? What do you mean?"

Sam explained to her father about the telepathic connection that existed between Daniel and his clone, citing the other incidents that had occurred.

"You mean that poor kid is actually feeling Daniel's pain?" Jacob asked, horrified.

"No, they've never actually felt each other's pain before," Sam said, "though Daniel did once sense Danny's fear." But it had never been this bad before. What if Danny _was_ feeling the pain? That thought made Sam feel sick.

"What do you have for us, Jacob?" Hammond asked quietly.

"We've confirmed that Anubis has a base on Tartarus. A powerful sensor array prevents anyone from approaching the planet unnoticed. The Stargate on Tartarus is inside the structure and has a powerful force field protecting it."

"We need to know how Anubis created this new soldier, confirm what we believe his intentions are, and, if possible, stop him. Any ideas?"

"Even if we could defeat the force field, we have to assume that the Stargate would be heavily guarded," Sam replied.

"We must gain access to the planet by somehow temporarily shutting down the sensor array," Teal'c stated.

"I agree. The question is, how?"

"I will walk through the Stargate," Selmak unexpectedly stated.

Hammond stared at the Tok'ra. "Selmak?"

"Yes."

"Come again?"

"I wear the armor of Anubis' assassin. According to your account on Ramius' planet, it passed through the force field trap."

"But at what physical cost?" Bra'tac questioned. "We have no way of knowing."

"The force field around that Stargate has got to be more powerful than the one we used," Sam pointed out.

"I'm sorry, kid," Jacob said. "I'm with Selmak on this one. He'll keep me alive." He looked at all the expressions of doubt. "Does anyone else have a better idea?" No one replied. Jacob nodded, decision made. "Once I've deactivated the sensor array, a scout ship can then approach the planet. Radioactive isotopes taken beforehand will permit us to move around freely without being detected by internal sensors inside the base."

"What's your exit plan?" the general asked.

It was Bra'tac who replied. "The scout ship. During the mission, I will conceal it in one of the planet's many low lying chasms, powering down to further avoid detection."

Hammond nodded, knowing it was the only feasible plan. He looked at Sam. "Major, you have a go."

* * *

Daniel hissed in pain as he pulled his T-shirt away from his skin. He looked down at his torso. He'd have to keep the burns as clean as possible, although, without a way to wash and bandage them, that wasn't going to be easy.

Daniel shifted his position, groaning as his muscles objected. All the times he'd been zatted, he'd never felt this bad, like every muscle in his body had been abused. Not even what Rigar did had made him feel like this. But then, the Bedrosian hadn't used that weapon on him nearly as many times as Rafael used that battery.

Daniel heard a sound outside. A few seconds later, Bill was dragged into the shack and dropped on the mat. The scientist moaned in pain. Ignoring his own pain, Daniel went over to him.

"I never thought I would die like this," the scientist said.

Daniel wiped at small a wound under the man's eye with a dirty cloth. "Ah, you're not dead yet."

Bill met his eyes. "I'm sorry, Daniel. I couldn't take it. I told them."

Dread filled the archeologist. "What? What'd you tell them?"

"Everything."

Daniel sighed. _'Crap. This could be very bad.' _

"I'm sorry," Bill apologized again, feeling ashamed over his weakness.

"Don't worry about it. Someone's bound to find us soon. Then we'll get out of here and take the device with us." He gazed at the man sympathetically. "Did they use the battery?"

Bill shuddered and nodded. "I've never felt anything like that in my life. I thought I was going to die."

"Let me see."

Hesitantly, Bill lifted his shirt. Daniel saw three electrical burns from the jumper cables, as well as bruising from repeated blows. "Try to keep the burns clean. They could get infected."

"What about you?" the scientist asked as he lowered his shirt.

"I'm all right," Daniel quickly replied. He didn't want Bill to see his torso, which had a hell of a lot more than three burns.

"Do you really think someone is coming to rescue us?"

"Yes, I do. They'll be able to track our GPS locators to the temple. From there, they should be able to follow our trail."

"Will it be SG-1?"

"No, I don't think so. It wouldn't make sense for anyone to come here from the SGC, not as far as it is, although Jack, Sam and Teal'c would probably want to come, that is unless they're on a mission to find out more about those drones. If that's the case, they might not even know about this."

"What are we going to do now, Daniel?" Bill asked.

"For right now, we wait."

* * *

Periodically glancing at the tracking device in his hand, P-90 slung over the other shoulder and ready to be used at a moment's notice, Jack cautiously made his way through the jungle, his guide beside him. As planned, Jack had met CIA Agent Burke at Cantina LaLupita, the last place that Daniel and Bill had been seen. Things did not go so well at the meeting. Many years ago, Burke had been Jack's friend, but that was before the man killed another friend of theirs in a friendly fire incident. Though Jack had told the authorities reviewing the case everything he knew about the incident – which wasn't much since he hadn't been there – he did not go out of his way to speak in defense of Burke, being angry and bitter about the senseless death of their friend. Burke, therefore, blamed Jack for what happened to him, which was to be kicked out of the unit. Later, his wife divorced him, and he eventually got sent to Honduras.

Jack and Burke had argued at the cantina, partially over who was going to be in command, and Burke stormed off. As far as Jack was concerned, he was better off without the man, whom he considered untrustworthy.

He did, however, learn some important things from Burke about the people who took Daniel and Bill Lee. They were anti-Honduran extremists, and this was not the first time they'd done something like this. Last year, they kidnapped an important American engineer working on the Cajon River Dam. The insurance company paid off, and the group financed their war against the government with the ransom money. The fact that the engineer was returned alive gave Jack hope that Daniel and Doctor Lee weren't already dead.

After Burke left in a huff, Jack told his waiter he needed a guide. It turned out that Pedro – whom everyone called Pepe – _was_ a guide.

Following the GPS signal, Jack and Pedro soon reached a waterfall.

"Uh, hold up," Jack said. He looked around. "This is it."

"As I told you, there's nothing here," the other man stated.

They were both surprised by the sound of another voice. "There is this well in the middle of nowhere."

They spun around to see Burke standing a few yards away beside what did look sort of like a well.

"Standard U.S. military boot tread all around." Burke held up a coin. "Make a wish." He dropped the coin into the water. He approached the other two men. "What took you so long? How hard could it be to track their GPS locators?" He held up the locators, which he'd found lying on the ground. Seeing that Jack was not amused, he said with a smile, "I'm just kidding. Only been here a couple minutes myself."

"Change your mind?" Jack queried.

"In a manner of speaking." He turned to Pedro, handed him a roll of money and told him in Spanish to go back to the cantina.

Surprised by the generous amount of money, the young man thanked him and was all set to leave when Jack stopped him.

Burke held up the locators. "This is the end of the road, man. I mean, you didn't think these guys were gonna make it easy on ya, did ya? I'll take you where you need to go."

"For old times' sake?"

"You know, I took an emotional inventory, and I realized that I have some issues. Thought maybe we can put our petty differences aside on this one. You're gonna need me when this one goes down, buddy. Come on, give me a chance. I won't let you down."

Hoping that he was not going to regret this, Jack turned to Pedro and told him to go ahead and leave.

The man wished him goodbye, then disappeared into the jungle.

Burke smiled and gave Jack a friendly punch on the arm. "Now we're talking, sports fans! Okay, my name is Burke, and I'll be your guide. Today, we'll be looking at indigenous vegetation of Central America. Watch your step, ladies. We're not in Minnesota."

"Easy," Jack said, not appreciating the humor, not when Daniel's life was on the line. But, as much as he hated to admit it, he was going to need the man. Jungle foliage grew quickly and would already be partially obscuring any trail made by the rebels who took Daniel and Lee. Jack was a fair tracker, but Burke was more familiar with the territory and apparently had a good idea where the rebels took Daniel and Lee. And, if there was a firefight, another gun would probably be needed.

As they started walking, Burke glanced at Jack. "So, who is this Daniel Jackson anyway? I know he's an archeologist and that he works for the government, but that's all. What was he doing out here, anyway?"

"Looking for something."

"Looking for what?"

"Something that's classified."

"Ah, yes. Classified. I have to wonder what could be classified that an archeologist and another scientist would be sent to find."

"There were reasons for that," Jack told him. "And Daniel's used to this sort of thing."

"Is he used to being taken captive?"

"Actually, yes, it has happened before. Not quite like this, but. . . ."

"Interesting archeologist."

"Oh, yes. Definitely not the run-of-the-mill type."

"And what is he to _you_? Back at the cantina, you said he was your friend."

"Yes, he's my friend," there was a pause, "my _best_ friend."

"Yeah? Was a time that _I_ was one of your best friends."

"That was a long time ago, a lifetime ago."

"Well, you'd better hope that your new best friend didn't tick off the guys who snatched him. He might not exactly be in very good health, if he did."

* * *

_'Well, at least they aren't using the battery,'_ was the thought that went through Daniel's mind as Rafael hit him yet again. He was tied to the chair in the command center, undergoing another interrogation. The rebel leader was demanding to know more about the device, asking questions Daniel couldn't answer without revealing classified information regarding the Goa'uld and the program.

"If you value the life of your friend, you will tell me what I want to know," Rafael said, furious.

Daniel spit the blood from his mouth, saying nothing.

"Your friend told me this device may be the origin of the Fountain of Youth myth."

"Yeah, maybe," Daniel admitted.

"How does it work?"

"I don't know." He flinched as Rafael raised his fist to strike again. "Look, you grabbed us five minutes after we found it!"

"Who is this Telchak?"

"He's a mythological figure, a Mayan god that may or may not have lived here thousands of years ago."

"So this device is many thousands of years old."

"Possibly."

"And this Mayan god brought this device to his temple. For what purpose?"

When Daniel refused to answer, Rafael struck him hard in the face again, making Daniel cry out in pain.

"To hide it! To use it! I don't know!" he exclaimed.

"Use it. On whom?"

"People! Mayan people!"

"And what would it do to them?"

"Look, the research I used to find it just gave a cryptic warning the device was . . . was dangerous, even harmful. That's all I know."

Rafael painfully grabbed Daniel's face in one hand and bent down close to him. There was something in the rebel's eyes that chilled Daniel to the bone. In those eyes he saw madness.

"I do not think it is so harmful," Rafael said. "I have never in my life felt as strong as I do right now."

The rebel leader reached out and uncovered the Telchak device. To Daniel's horror, he saw that it had been activated. An eerie white glow emanated from it.

Fear raced through Daniel's veins. "You turned it on?"

"Yes."

"Turn it off," Daniel pleaded. "You don't know what you're dealing with. The effects of the device may be unstable. It's . . . it's very dangerous. Look, it's beyond our comprehension! Turn it off."

"You're lying."

"What if he isn't?" Chalo asked, a note of fear in his voice. "The device is cursed. Rafael, we should turn it off."

The rebel leader stared at him. "Turn it off? Do you not feel different as well?"

"I do, and it scares me. Por favor, Rafael. If you will not turn it off, I will."

Rafael's face twitched with anger. He turned to the table, but, instead of turning off the device, he picked up a pistol and shot Chalo twice in the chest.

_'Oh, God, it's happening,'_ Daniel's mind cried. _'They're being affected. We have to get out of here!' _

Fearing that Rafael would kill him in another fit of maniacal rage, Daniel watched the rebel leader pace about the room. The archeologist's eyes kept drifting to the Telchak device. He'd faced so many dangers since joining the program, faced death far more than once, but he'd never been as terrified of any threat to his life as he was of that box. The things he'd done while under the influence of the sarcophagus and the hell he'd suffered during the withdrawal still haunted him to this day. If he didn't get away from that thing, how long would it take before he began to lose his soul again? How long before he wouldn't care about anyone or anything except the power, the high? The effects of the sarcophagus nearly caused him to let his three best friends die a slow death in those Naquadah mines. What would the Telchak device do to him, a device many times more powerful than a sarcophagus?

Rafael finally turned and glared at Daniel. "Take him back to the shack. We will deal with him later, after we are given the ransom for him." He bent down, getting close to Daniel's face. "I think it will not matter now for you if your government pays or not."

Daniel's bonds were released, and he was pushed and shoved back to the jail shack. They nearly threw him into it.

"We've got a big problem," Daniel said to Bill as he picked himself up off the floor. "They've turned on the device."

"Oh no!"

"Yeah, and it's already doing a number on them. Rafael just murdered one of his own men."

"When I heard the shots, I was afraid they'd killed you."

Daniel looked around the shack, thinking. "We need to get out of here. Even if we're out of the range of the device, this place is a powder keg waiting to go off."

"But how are we going to escape, and where are we going to go? We don't even know where we are. We could get lost in the jungle."

"We can try to find the trail back to the temple. From there, I'll know where to go. As for how we're going to get out of here. . . ." Daniel studied the rickety boards from which the shack was constructed. He wiggled one. It wouldn't take a whole lot to break through. "I've got an idea about that." He peered outside, seeing that there were rebels all around. "But we're going to have to wait to make our break. I just hope we have the time." 


	39. Chapter 39

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

It took a while before the way was clear enough for Daniel to attempt to break through the wall of the shack. He took his belt and one of his boots off, looped the belt around three of the planks, then stuck his boot into the belt. Using the boot as a handle, he began twisting the belt, slowly tightening it around the planks.

"Shouldn't we at least wait till night time?" Bill asked.

"I don't think we have that long."

"We won't get a hundred yards before they kill us."

"Yeah, if we stay, they'll _definitely_ kill us. I saw the short-term effects of that device. I know what a sarcophagus does to a person's sanity, and this is far more powerful. I don't think we want to stick around to find out what long-term exposure does."

Just then, one of the planks popped loose. Daniel put it aside. Removing the belt, he turned his attention to the next planks and began repeating the process. Just a few more, and they could get out of here.

* * *

A while ago, Jack and Burke had come across a surprise. They found what they thought was a body lying beneath a tree. It turned out that the guy wasn't dead, though he had been shot in the back. Jack suspected that he was the guide Daniel hired to take them into the jungle. This was confirmed when the man revealed that he knew Daniel and told them the rebels had taken the two scientists over the border.

Air Rescue would be there soon, so Jack and Burke had reluctantly left the guide with some gum – courtesy of Burke – and a canteen of water, then continued on their way.

That surprise was nothing compared to the one Burke gave Jack a while later. After all these years, the man had revealed that the incident with their friend, Woods, had not been a case of friendly fire, an accident.

"Man, it wasn't my fault," he had said. "I mean, I didn't choose, I just reacted. It stinks. The whole damn thing stinks. You want to know what really happened? Fine, I'll tell you. Woods was ghosting us. He sold out. He was . . . he was no good. He was sending out a rogue transmission; he was giving our position away. Woods realized that I was on to him, and he turned his weapon on me. And I . . . I just . . . I just reacted."

When Jack asked why Burke hadn't come forward with that, he said that it was because the three of them and their families had been so close. If it had come out that Woods was a traitor, his wife wouldn't have gotten a penny of his pension. Woods had been a month away from retirement, but Burke said that he'd had no intention of retiring, that he'd been setting himself up as a mercenary for a warlord.

Now, Jack wasn't sure what to think. Had he been wrong about Burke all these years?

But that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that they find Daniel and get him and Lee out. Everything else could wait.

* * *

Daniel gave another twist to his belt. Just two more and they'd be free. More than once, he'd had to stop because one of the rebels got too close to the shack. Both he and Bill had feared that a rebel would walk around to the back side and see what was being done. But their luck held out, and the rebels remained unaware of what their prisoners were doing.

Another board came loose, and Daniel began pulling it off. He was startled by the sound of automatic weapons fire. Wondering if a rescue attempt was underway, he ran to the other wall and quickly glanced out. What he saw chilled his blood and sent him hurrying back to the hole he was making. Chalo, the man killed by Rafael, was outside the main hut, firing upon the other rebels, having already killed three of them. His eyes were white, like the eyes of that Goa'uld warrior. Daniel knew what this meant. The power of the Telchak device had resurrected Chalo, but not the same way that a sarcophagus brings the dead back to life. He was, for all intents and purposes, a zombie, apparently a murderous one.

Knowing that every second counted, Daniel ripped off another board, and he and Bill squeezed out of the hole. They ran into the foliage surrounding the clearing and stopped to see what was going on. They could see Chalo still firing upon his fellow rebels, seemingly intent upon killing everything in sight.

"That's not good," Daniel said.

He and Bill ran, knowing that, at any moment, Chalo or the other rebels could come after them.

Rafael and the surviving rebels fired at Chalo, one of them hitting him with two blasts from a shotgun. At last, he fell to the ground. The rebels cautiously approached. When a hard tap from Rafael's foot did not make the man stir, the rebel leader came to the conclusion that he was dead . . . again.

Rafael's thoughts suddenly turned to the prisoners. He and his two surviving men ran to the shack. They saw that the prisoners were gone.

"No! No! You let them escape!" Rafael yelled at his men. Switching to Spanish, he then said, "Let's go kill them!"

They ran off in pursuit, Rafael's mind burning with the desire to kill.

* * *

Daniel ran and ran, Bill right there with him, but the rebels were gaining on them, gunfire blasting through the trees all around them. Not only were the rebels not weakened from torture and lack of water and food, they were also likely energized and strengthened by the Telchak device. Daniel remembered that strength and the feeling of energy, the feeling that he was powerful, invincible. The difference was that, even under the influence of the sarcophagus, _he_ wasn't a homicidal monster. Rafael was.

Just then, Bill stopped running, grabbing onto a tree to stay upright. His chest was heaving with exhaustion. Daniel hurried back to him.

"Bill, you gotta keep moving!"

Wood and bark from the tree peppered them as it was struck by a hail of bullets. Daniel and Bill fled, hearing Rafael yelling in Spanish behind them.

A short while later, Bill fell. Daniel tried to get him to his feet.

"I can't . . . breathe!" Bill gasped, holding his side.

"Yes, you can. Come on!"

"I can't. Daniel, I can't."

The archeologist realized that the scientist was at the end of his strength. He couldn't go any farther.

"Okay, okay," Daniel helped Bill hide behind a tree. "Stay there. I'll draw them off."

Knowing that the chance of him escaping the rebels was small, Daniel ran. He had not gotten far when the agonizing pain of a bullet strike flared through his thigh. He fell against a tree and slid to the ground, his back against the tree. Rafael and two other rebels were before him. The rebel leader fired his AK-47 into the ground before Daniel, then into the tree just above his head. Daniel ducked, raising his arms in defense.

Rafael threw down his gun and asked for a machete. One of his men gave him one. He came toward Daniel, waving the long blade about, a rabid light in his eyes.

"I'm going to skin you alive!"

Though he knew that he couldn't successfully defend himself against this man, Daniel looked for a weapon, _any_ weapon he could use. His eyes fell upon a rock, and he reached for it. But, even as he grabbed it, there was more machine gun fire. Finding that he had not been shot, he turned back to see one of the rebels fall to the ground, the other two already down. Jack appeared out of the jungle in a crouch.

_'What? What's happening? They're dead? No, the device! They'll come back to life! Jack? What's Jack doing here?'_ His exhausted mind reeling with shock and expecting the rebels to come back to life at any second, Daniel barely registered the fact that Jack had just asked him how many more rebels there were. Then his friend was beside him, grasping his arm.

"Daniel?"

That's when Daniel finally snapped out of it. They were dead. The rebels were dead.

"That's it. You got 'em all." He stared at Jack in surprise. "Jack? What are you doing here? I didn't think. . . ."

"What? You didn't think we'd come get you?"

At that moment, Daniel realized that he was still holding the rock in preparation to use it. He dropped it to the ground.

"How badly are you injured?" Jack asked, concerned that Daniel was going into shock. He wasn't acting right at all.

"I'll survive," Daniel replied.

"I have no doubt of that, but that's not what I asked."

"Well, the bullet Rafael just put in my leg is rather painful."

Jack checked the back of Daniel's right thigh and saw the blood. There was no exit wound, which meant that the bullet was still inside.

"We need to find Bill, Jack," Daniel said. "I left him hiding behind a tree."

"Let me do something about your leg first." Jack pulled out his bandana. "So, what other injuries do you have?"

"I'm fine."

The colonel stared at him narrowly, not for one second believing him. Jack's instincts were telling him that Daniel was hiding something he was really not going to like.

Jack began tying the bandana around the bullet wound to staunch the flow of blood. "You gonna be able to walk on this?"

Daniel grimaced in pain. "Yeah."

Suddenly, Chalo, reanimated yet again, appeared out of the jungle. He fired a shotgun at them. Jack got a good look at the man's white eyes.

"Telchak's device reanimates dead tissue," Daniel said in a rush.

Jack grabbed his arm. "Yeah, whatever. Come on!"

Jack hauled Daniel to his feet and dragged him behind the tree as Chalo fired again. Jack leaned out and fired his P-90 into the man. The bullets had no effect.

_'Crap. This is not good!' _

At that moment, salvation came in the form of Burke.

"Hey, get down!" he yelled. He fired a grenade from the chamber in his weapon. It hit Chalo, virtually disintegrating him.

As Burke walked toward them, Jack helped Daniel to his feet, and they came out from behind the tree, Daniel's arm around Jack's shoulder for support. Jack held onto his friend's waist.

"What's with the guy from Evil Dead?" Burke asked.

"Um. . . ." Jack responded.

"Classified?"

"Yeah."

Burke let out a laugh that was more of a snort. "You guys are into some crazy crap, man!"

_'No shit,'_ was Jack's silent response.

Burke looked at Daniel. "He okay?"

"He will be," Jack replied at the same time as Daniel said, "I will be."

Burke stared at the two of them and shook his head. "Oh, by the way, I found your other pal."

"Bill?" Daniel asked. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah. I told him to stay put."

Jack looked at Daniel. "Are you sure there aren't any more of those guys running around?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure that Chalo killed the rest of them. That's the, um, Evil Dead guy."

"Nevertheless, we're going to have to move with caution." Jack turned to Burke. "Go get Doctor Lee. Then we'll head toward the camp."

As Burke went off to fetch Bill, Jack insisted that Daniel sit back down.

"Could I have some water?" the archeologist asked in a quiet voice.

Jack pulled out his canteen. The look in Daniel's eyes told him it had been a while since his friend had any water.

"Drink it slowly," Jack instructed as he handed the canteen over.

With shaking hands, Daniel uncapped it and brought it to his lips. The taste of the water nearly overwhelmed him, and it took a lot for him not to gulp it down. He forced himself to take small sips.

Jack watched in concern. Daniel looked awful, like he'd been through hell, which he probably had.

"How long has it been since you had any water?" he asked.

"They gave us about half a cupful on the first day. That was it."

"And no food?"

"No. But I got to look at some very nice pineapple while Rafael ate it."

Jack cursed silently. The bastard deprived them of food and water, probably to make them talk.

"I'm sorry, Daniel."

The archeologist looked at him. "For what? This wasn't your fault."

"Wasn't it? I should have insisted that I come with you."

"Jack, even if you'd been here, we'd still have been taken. It wouldn't have made a difference, unless you tried to shoot them. Then they'd probably have killed us. Actually, you'd probably have ticked Rafael off within five minutes and gotten yourself shot."

Just then, Burke and Bill came into view.

"Oh, he's got your number, all right," the CIA agent said, grinning.

Jack glared at him. "No remarks from you."

Bill spied the canteen in Daniel's hand. "Please. Some water?"

Burke handed over his canteen.

"Don't drink it fast, Bill," Daniel quickly warned. "You'll get sick."

In spite of the warning, Bill began gulping. Burke snatched the canteen away.

"Hey. I don't want you puking all over my boots."

"I'm sorry," Bill gasped. "I'm just so thirsty."

"Take it slow," Daniel advised again.

This time, Bill listened and drank slowly. Daniel drank some more as well.

"You ready to go?" Jack asked him a moment later.

"Yeah. We need to get to the device and turn it off."

"Oh, so you found this mysterious, classified device, huh?" Burke asked, smirking.

Daniel stared at him uncertainly. "Yeah," he replied with caution, not sure how much he should say.

"Ignore him, Daniel," Jack said. "He's always been a jackass."

Burke laughed and popped a new piece of gum into his mouth. "Like I always say, it takes one to know one."

Ignoring the comment, Jack looked down at Daniel's leg. "We need to find you a crutch. It'll be faster going."

He and Burke looked around the area for a suitable stick. One was found, and a few branches were lopped off with the machete that Rafael brandished against Daniel. Daniel tried not to think about what that machete would have been used for if Jack hadn't arrived when he did.

Jack put his arm around Daniel's waist to help him to his feet. The younger man abruptly gasped, jerking sharply.

"Daniel?"

"I'm okay," Daniel said between gritted teeth. "You just hit a sore spot."

"I think I'd better take a look."

"No."

Jack looked at his friend sharply, surprised at the refusal. Okay, now he was getting really worried.

"Daniel."

"I'm okay," Daniel insisted. "We need to get to the camp."

Choosing not to make an issue of it now, Jack helped Daniel up, being careful not to touch the archeologist's side.

The trip to the camp was slow-going because of Daniel's leg. Jack frequently glanced at his friend, seeing the exhaustion in every line of his body. And there was pain, too, quite a bit, if Jack was reading his friend right. Daniel was trying to hide it, but he could only hide so much. Bill Lee wasn't looking all that great either, but at least he didn't have a bullet in his leg.

As they neared the camp, they moved with caution, eyes and ears open for trouble. The place looked deserted, except for the bodies on the ground.

"So, where is it?" Jack asked as they entered the camp.

Daniel pointed at the hut that had been the command center and Rafael's quarters. "In there. Bill and I will get it. It would be best if as few people as possible are exposed to it."

"Hold off on that." Jack turned to Burke. "Check the perimeter."

"Yes, sir, colonel, sir," the man replied with anything but respect, shooting off an irreverent salute.

"Known him long?" Daniel asked Jack as the CIA agent went off to do as ordered.

"Yes, unfortunately."

Jack checked the three men lying on the ground. They were all dead.

Burke returned a couple minutes later. "Perimeter's clear. Just heard from Air Rescue. They got the guide."

Daniel stared at him in surprise. "Rogelio?"

"Yeah, he's gonna be okay. They'll be here soon."

Rather reluctantly, Daniel and Bill went to the hut where the device was while Jack and Burke waited outside. As they entered the structure, Daniel's eyes were drawn to the battery sitting on the table. He quickly looked away and focused on the thing that had turned one of Rafael's men into a zombie. He studied the symbols on it, quickly deciphering them. With the push of a few of them, the device turned off, much to the relief of the two men.

The danger past, a sudden feeling of claustrophobia hit Daniel, and he quickly left the hut, telling Bill to bring the device.

Jack looked at the nasty little thing that had nearly cost Daniel and Bill Lee their lives and might be the key to destroying Anubis' drones.

"Is that that thing that made that guy do that thing?" Burke asked.

"Yeah. It's okay. It's off now," Daniel replied.

"Good. That's good," Jack said, not wanting to find out what it would do to him. Like Daniel, he'd tasted the effects of addiction to a sarcophagus, though the withdrawal he suffered after the events with Ba'al wasn't even a fraction of what Daniel had gone through.

"Yeah, at least we think it's off," Bill said. "It's not glowing anymore, so. . . ."

"The glowing thing really gives it away," Daniel remarked, "so if it's not glowing anymore, it shouldn't be on anymore."

Bill looked at Daniel. "Do you want to hold it?"

"No," the archeologist instantly replied. "No." He hopped a couple of times sideways, putting a few more inches between him and the device.

Burke laughed. "It's crazy!"

"Oh, you don't know the half of it," Daniel muttered. A wave of weakness suddenly washed over him, and he swayed on his feet. Jack was immediately at his side, holding his arm firmly.

"Let's sit you down out of this sun, Daniel," the colonel said. He started leading Daniel toward the hut where the Telchak device had been, but Daniel balked.

"No. Not in there," he said, his voice tight.

Warning bells clanging in Jack's head, he helped Daniel to a shady spot against the wall of the shack within which Daniel and Bill had been kept. Insisting that the archeologist lay down instead of just sitting, Jack gave him his rolled up jacket for a pillow.

As soon as Daniel's eyes closed, Jack was on his feet and heading for the hut. The light was dim inside, but not so dim that Jack couldn't see what was on a table off to the side.

Just then, Burke walked in. "So, what's . . . damn. Did they use that on them?"

Not replying, Jack strode outside and over to Daniel. Kneeling beside his friend, he lifted the archeologist's shirt. Daniel's eyes jerked open, and he pushed the material back down, but not before Jack saw what had been done to him. Daniel's torso was covered in bruises and electrical burns. There was virtually no undamaged skin.

Jack met Daniel's eyes.

"I guess you saw the battery," the archeologist said wearily.

"Daniel, why didn't you tell me? Did you think I wouldn't find out?"

"I kind of hoped you wouldn't."

"Did they use it on Bill, too?"

"A couple times. Bill told them what they wanted to know."

"But you didn't. How many times?"

"I don't know. I lost count after the eighth or ninth time." He gave a strained little laugh. "I'll never complain about being zatted again."

Rage welled up inside Jack. If Rafael and his men weren't already dead, he'd kill them – very, very slowly.

"Daniel," Jack said, his voice full of emotion.

"I'm okay, Jack," Daniel assured him.

The colonel scanned Daniel's eyes closely, looking for the truth in the man's statement. What he saw did not completely set his mind at ease.

Anything else Jack wanted to say was put on hold by the sound of an approaching helicopter. A moment later, they caught sight of a military chopper, which landed just outside the camp. Several Marines and some corpsmen emerged from it.

"Nice to see you guys," Jack said. He pointed at Daniel and Bill. "These two men need medical attention."

"What about the unfriendlies, sir?" one of the Marines asked as the corpsmen took care of the scientists.

"They've been neutralized, Lieutenant," Jack answered.

"Yes, sir. Colonel, we should get out of here as quickly as possible. We're in unfriendly territory."

"We've got no reason to dawdle."

Daniel was loaded onto a stretcher and put on the helicopter as Bill was helped to the aircraft. Jack wrapped the Telchak device in his jacket and boarded with Burke and the Marines.

"Hey, Doctor Jackson," Rogelio greeted with a smile from his stretcher. "Good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too, Rogelio."

"Ah, but you may not say that when I give you my bill, senor."

Daniel smiled at the comment.

Moments later, they were airborne and heading for the Enrique Soto Cano Air Force Base, the primary U.S. base in Honduras.

Jack sat down beside his teammate. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, although I'll be glad when the morphine takes effect."

"There's a medical facility at the base. They'll get you and Lee fixed up."

"Um . . . yeah, about that." Daniel glanced about, seeing if anyone was listening. "Jack, look at the burns."

Detecting the note in the man's voice, Jack lifted Daniel's shirt and peered at the burns closely. Now that he was really looking at them, he realized that they were already partially healed.

The colonel met Daniel's eyes. "The device?"

"Yeah. I was exposed to it for several minutes. If anyone sees those burns, they're going to wonder what's going on."

"The medical facility at the base is military. They know the meaning of classified."

Daniel settled deeper into his cot. "So, where are Sam and Teal'c? I'm betting they wanted to come, too."

"Actually, they're very likely on a mission right now. I'll tell you all about it on the flight home."

* * *

As he had suspected, the doctor who treated Daniel did ask about the burns. Jack did his tough colonel act and told the doctor of the classified nature of the events, making it clear that the physician was not to make any note of or remark about the present condition of the burns. With a "Yes, sir," the man had complied.

The bullet that was still imbedded in Daniel's leg took surgery to remove. The archeologist was now on a bed in the main ward of the facility, Jack in a chair beside him. Bill was in the next bed, fast asleep, and Rogelio was farther down the row.

A doctor came up to the two members of SG-1, a chart in his hands.

"So, what's the verdict?" Jack asked.

The man addressed his reply to Daniel. "Considering what you went through, Doctor Jackson, you're in fairly good shape. Dehydration and low blood sugar from lack of food and water, which is to be expected. There is no indication of infection in those burns. The bullet wound should heal well, though some physical therapy may be needed. I'd advise that you remain here overnight, at the very least."

"That won't be necessary, Doc," Jack replied. "There's an infirmary bed with Daniel's name on it waiting for him back home in the States."

The doctor did not push the issue, only nodding.

"How's Bill?" Daniel asked.

"His injuries were not nearly as extensive as yours, but he's suffering more from the dehydration and lack of food. He'll be fine, though. You both need to get some nourishment into your bodies. That dextrose you're being given is helping, but what you really need is food."

"I'll make sure they get fed, Doctor," Jack stated. "Don't you worry." He turned to Daniel. "So, what'll it be, Daniel? A big, juicy steak?"

"Pineapple," Daniel replied softly. "I'd like some pineapple."

Soberly, Jack met his friend's eyes, understanding. "You bet, Danny Boy. Pineapple it is."

* * *

Daniel got his pineapple, as well as some soup, the doctor having suggested that, since it had been quite some time since he had eaten, heavy food would not be recommended.

While Daniel and Bill ate, Jack put in a call to General Hammond.

"Colonel. I was informed that you got Daniel Jackson and Doctor Lee out. What is their condition?"

"Daniel got shot in the leg, and they were both beat up quite a bit by their captors and denied food and water. And. . . . Sir, the rebels used a car battery on them. Doctor Lee got off light, but Daniel. . . . He wouldn't tell them anything, so they kept shocking him."

There was a long silence on the other end. "How is he doing, Jack?" the general finally asked in a soft voice that had an edge of anger in it.

"Physically, all right, better than he should be. I'll explain about that when we get back. As for psychologically, I don't know. Daniel's tough, but being brutally tortured like that is not something you can just bounce back from with no problems."

"No, it isn't. When will you be heading back?"

"After Daniel and Doctor Lee have finished eating."

"All right. Colonel, there's something you should know before you get back. I'd recommend that you not tell Doctor Jackson until after you've landed."

The general told Jack about what happened with Danny. Crap. That poor kid. Daniel was going to freak when he found out.

"Thanks for telling me, General. I'll let Daniel know just before we get to the base. Did Carter and Teal'c go on that mission?"

"Yes, along with Bra'tac and Jacob. I'll brief you when you arrive back here."

"Yes, sir."

"Tell Doctor Jackson that we're all thankful that he and Doctor Lee are safe."

"I will, General. I just wish that they were more sound than they are." 


	40. Chapter 40

CHAPTER FORTY

On the long flight back home, Jack told Daniel what happened when they attempted to catch one of Anubis' drones and what they learned later.

"So, it _was_ Anubis," Daniel said. "I sure hope that device gives us a weapon against those soldiers."

"Me too, especially considering what you guys went through to get it."

Daniel thought of something. "Jack, are we keeping it or are we giving it to the Tok'ra?"

"I'd guess it'll go to the Tok'ra. They have a better chance of making a weapon from it than we do."

"Good."

Jack studied Daniel's face. "That thing really scares you, doesn't it."

"I saw what it did to Rafael and the others, Jack, and I've personally felt what a sarcophagus can do. It's dangerous, more dangerous than any other technology we've dealt with. It'll be safer in the hands of the Tok'ra. They understand the danger and will be careful."

Daniel lapsed into a short silence. "Does Danny know about the kidnapping?"

"Yes. We didn't think it would be right not to tell him."

"Jack, I don't want Danny to know what happened to me. Obviously, he's going to know about the gunshot wound, but he doesn't have to be told about the rest." When Jack didn't reply, Daniel stared at him more closely. "Jack?"

"He already knows, Daniel. Not the details, but he knows they were hurting you."

"What? How?" Then it hit him. "He felt it."

"Yeah. They don't think he actually felt the pain itself, but he knew they were hurting you. Um . . . the doc had to sedate him."

Daniel closed his eyes, feeling sick. Why did this have to happen? Danny was doing so well in his therapy, and, now, this. What was this going to do to him? Daniel cursed the link they shared, wishing it didn't exist. But then, if it wasn't for that link, it may have been many hours before Danny and the Hardwicks were found after the car crash. Captain Hardwick would, no doubt, be dead, and Tommy might be as well.

The archeologist felt a hand being placed on his shoulder. He looked up into Jack's eyes.

"Danny is a tough kid, Daniel. It's in his genes. He'll be all right, especially after he sees you alive and more or less whole."

The moment they arrived at the SGC, Daniel and Bill were taken to the infirmary.

"Where is he?" the archeologist asked the second his wheelchair was wheeled into the main ward.

"He's over there." Janet pointed to a bed. "He's still under. I decided to keep him sedated until you were back. It shouldn't be long before he begins waking up."

Daniel wheeled over to the bed. He took Danny's hand, placing his other hand on the child's head. His throat tightened with emotion.

"I'm so sorry, Danny," he whispered.

"It wasn't your fault, Daniel," Janet said, coming up beside him.

"I should have been more careful, more observant. The rebels who grabbed us must have been following us. I really don't think they stumbled upon us accidentally. If Jack, Teal'c or Sam had been with us, they'd probably have known we were being followed."

"You don't know that for sure, Daniel. It could have happened anyway. The important thing is that you and Doctor Lee survived. Come on. I need to take a look at you."

Reluctantly, Daniel left the boy's side.

Janet had been briefed by Hammond on what to expect, but she was still distressed by the sight of the burns and bruises that covered Daniel's torso from just below his nipples down to his belly button. She was puzzled, though, by the fact that many of the bruises and all of the burns appeared to be far more healed than they should be.

Seeing the expression on her face, Daniel said, "The Telchak device."

Janet looked at him sharply. "You were exposed to it?"

"Yeah, for a few minutes, not long enough to affect me psychologically, but long enough to begin healing my injuries."

"And Doctor Lee?"

Daniel shook his head. "No, except for a few seconds when we shut it off. I think the shack we were being kept in was out of the danger zone." He noticed the frown on her face. "You're worried about withdrawal," he guessed.

"Yes, a little. We have no idea how much exposure to that thing will result in withdrawal symptoms. We're going to need to watch you closely over the next few days."

Daniel was put in the bed beside Danny's so that he'd be right there when the boy woke up. Jack came in a few minutes later. His eyes went to the bed holding the child, then to his teammate.

"I see the doc's got you hooked back up."

Daniel glanced at the IV in his arm. "Yeah, I'm still a little dehydrated. Has there been any word from Sam and Teal'c?"

"No, not yet." Seeing the look on Daniel's face, Jack added, "They'll be fine, Daniel. They'll probably be back tomorrow." Jack sat on the chair beside the bed. "Daniel, what happened to you—"

"I'm fine," Daniel interrupted, knowing where this was going.

"Are you? Sure, you may want to think that, but, Daniel, you were tortured."

Daniel stared at the covers. "It's not the first time."

"No, it's not, but that doesn't mean you can brush it off like it never happened. Take that from someone who knows."

The archeologist lifted his head to meet the older man's gaze. Yes, Jack knew all too well. "I'll be all right, Jack. I got through the stuff with the Bedrosians fine."

"Yes, you did, but that wasn't quite the same. What Rigar did to you was nasty, but it wasn't brutal, not like this. Daniel, I'm just saying that, if you need someone to talk to . . . I'm here."

Daniel gave him a small smile. "Thanks."

A sound from the other bed alerted the two men to the fact that Danny was waking up.

"Jack," Daniel said.

Understanding the unspoken request, Jack stood and stepped up to the boy's bed. He leaned over the child. "Hey, kiddo. Wakey, wakey. There's someone here to see you."

Slowly, two groggy blue eyes opened and looked at him, the lids blinking heavily.

"Hello, there," Jack said, smiling.

"Uncle Jack?" Danny mumbled.

"That's me."

All at once, memory filled the boy's eyes. "Daniel! They were hurting Daniel."

Jack laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Shh. It's okay, Danny. Take a look over there." He pointed at the other bed.

"I'm okay, Danny," Daniel said as soon as the boy saw him. "See? I'm right here."

The boy began scrambling out of the bed, obviously intent on joining Daniel in his.

"Hold it, hold it, Danny," Jack said, stopping him. "Daniel has some injuries, so you gotta be careful."

The boy's eyes filled with tears. "Are you hurt really bad?" he asked the archeologist in a small voice.

"No, I'll be fine, Danny. I got shot in the leg, and they beat me up some, but I'll heal."

Danny's voice wavered. "C-can I hug you?"

Daniel smiled slightly, feeling his throat tighten with emotion. "Yes, you can hug me. I'd like that very much."

Jack lifted the boy out of his bed and carefully set him on Daniel's. Danny lay down and wrapped his arms around Daniel's neck, laying his head on the man's shoulder.

Daniel held him close as Danny cried, soothing him with his voice. Jack left, giving them a little privacy.

"They hurt you," Danny whispered. "They hurt you a lot. I heard you screaming."

Screaming? When he was being shocked, he couldn't scream, it being impossible with all that electricity coursing through his body. But he was screaming in his mind, over and over again. That must have been what Danny "heard."

"It's okay, Danny. It's over. They're all dead and will never hurt anyone else."

Danny held him tighter. "I'm glad they're dead."

Daniel sighed sadly. "Danny, I know that you're mad at them for what they did to me, but you should never be happy that a fellow human being is dead. They thought they had good reasons for the things they did. It doesn't make it any less wrong. Just because they were fighting for something they believed in, that didn't give them the right to hurt me and Bill, but . . . well, it doesn't matter now. It's over."

"Is Doctor Lee okay? They hurt him, too?"

"Yes, but he's all right. You hear that snoring?"

"Uh huh."

"That's Bill. He's in one of the other beds."

Danny didn't speak for a moment. "I was really scared. You were hurting so much, and I thought you were going to die."

Daniel closed his eyes, stroking the boy's head. "I know, Danny. I'll tell you a secret. I was scared, too."

"You were?"

"Yeah."

"I think I felt that, too."

Daniel recalled feeling Danny's fear during the car accident. He looked down into the boy's eyes. "Danny, you didn't actually feel my pain, did you?"

"No."

The answer relieved Daniel tremendously.

There was another short silence. "Where did they hurt you?" Danny asked. "You got shot in the leg?"

"Yes. I'm going to be using crutches for a while, but it'll heal."

"They hurt you other places, too?"

Daniel paused before answering. "Yeah. They hit me a bit, sometimes on the face, but mostly in the stomach. You'll have to be careful about hugging me around the waist for a while. I'm pretty sore."

"Did they do something else?" Danny asked hesitantly.

Daniel looked down at him. "Why do you ask?"

The boy shrugged slightly. "I don't know."

Daniel frowned, wondering if Danny was sensing something now or if, while Daniel was being shocked, the boy sensed a bit of what was going on. Either way, Daniel wasn't going to tell him about the battery.

"Um . . . they didn't give us any food or water, except a tiny bit of water on the first day," he said. "By the time Jack found us, Bill and I were both really thirsty and pretty hungry, too. Let's talk about something nicer, okay?"

"Okay. Are Sam and Teal'c gone? Sam said they might go on a mission."

"Yes, they left this morning. Bra'tac and Jacob went, too. They should be back tomorrow. Janet said I could leave the infirmary in the morning, but I need to stay on base for the next few days. So, you and I will be sleeping in our quarters here again. Who did you stay with while I was gone?"

"Sometimes Sam and sometimes Jack. We slept here on the base."

"Did you sleep okay?"

Danny shook his head slightly, pressing his face into Daniel's shirt. "I was afraid you were going to die. I had nightmares."

Daniel gave a sad sigh. "I'm so sorry, Danny. I wish this didn't happen."

"Me too."

"But you want to know something that makes it better, that makes it all worthwhile?"

Danny looked up at him. "What?"

"You know that thing we went to find? We found it. It's something that might help us defeat Anubis. It could save thousands and thousands of lives. If it does, it will be worth getting hurt for it."

"I hope it does."

"So do I, Danny." Daniel yawned deeply.

"Are you tired?"

"Yeah, actually, I am. I haven't slept much."

"You should take a nap."

Daniel smiled. "Yes, perhaps I should."

"Can I stay here with you?"

Daniel held him a little tighter. "You bet."

As the boy snuggled into his side, Daniel closed his eyes with a sigh. Seconds later, he was asleep.

* * *

They received a message from the Tok'ra early the next morning that Sam and Teal'c's mission was completed, and everyone was all right, though there were some minor injuries. A couple of hours later, the gate dialed in. It was Sam.

"Sir, did they get Daniel out? Is he all right?" were the first words out of her mouth.

"Yes, Major. Doctor Jackson is back home. He's been through quite an ordeal, but all his injuries will heal. He's still in the infirmary. Otherwise, I'd have him come down here to speak with you."

"That's okay, sir. I just had to know. What with Danny sensing he'd been hurt . . . I was really worried."

"I understand, Major. I will go ahead and tell you that they were successful. We have the Telchak device."

"That's great news, General. I'll let everyone know. We're going to be here at the Tok'ra base for a while. Dad's filling the others in on everything we've learned. It's, um . . . pretty serious, sir, worse than we'd anticipated."

"When do you expect to return?"

"I'm not sure yet, sir, perhaps around noon."

"Very well. We'll debrief after you return."

* * *

Once Daniel and Bill had been released from the infirmary, they had their debriefing with the general. Jack was there as well. His debriefing had taken place yesterday, but he wanted to be there for this one as well, as hard as he knew it would be to hear Daniel talk about the torture he'd suffered.

"Doctor Jackson, Doctor Lee, first let me say that I am very relieved that you are both back home with us," Hammond said. "I was quite concerned about you. I also want to thank you for successfully finding and retrieving the Telchak device. Good work."

"Thank you, sir," Daniel said.

"Shall we begin, then?"

Daniel's recount of the events started with meeting Rogelio at Cantina LaLupita.

"Now that I think about it, it's very possible that Rafael saw us there and overheard our conversation," he said. "We had a bit of an argument with Rogelio. He insisted that we should go north, that there were no temples to the south. My insistence that we go south may have attracted Rafael's attention. If that's true, he probably went to get some of his men and tracked us down."

"Even if that is true, Daniel, you couldn't have known that there was a murderous rebel at that cantina," Jack said.

Daniel continued recounting the events, explaining how they found the temple right where it was supposed to be.

Jack turned to Bill with amusement. "You fell into it?" He turned back to Daniel. "Do archeologists often tumble head over heels into the temples they're looking for?"

"Not usually. I figure that the temple was built underground for the purpose of hiding it. It's possible that we wouldn't have seen it if Bill hadn't . . . stumbled upon it."

Daniel told them about how they found the device and the booby trap that was set off.

"Rogelio had barely pulled us out when we saw Rafael and his men coming up behind him. They searched us. Fortunately, they didn't recognize what the GPS locators were, so they just tossed them aside instead of smashing them. They bound our hands with plastic ties and blindfolded us, probably so that we couldn't tell anyone later where the rebel camp was. On the march to the camp, I think Bill tripped."

"Yes, I did," Bill confirmed. "I couldn't see anything with that blindfold on."

"Apparently, Rogelio took the opportunity to make a break for it. One of the men shot him. I thought for sure he was dead."

"He's going to be fine, Daniel," Jack said. "I checked up on him, and he was happily flirting with the nurses and chewing on the gum Burke gave him."

Daniel continued with the narrative, skimming over the beatings he and Bill received.

"He aimed most of the questions toward you?" Hammond asked.

"Yeah, even when he was, um . . . hitting Bill. I'm pretty sure he'd figured out that I was the leader. I kept insisting that we were just archeologists, but he wouldn't believe me. I guess he finally ran out of patience." Daniel's gaze fell to the table.

"Take your time, Daniel," the general said gently.

"He showed me the battery Thursday afternoon. At least I think it was Thursday. I'm a little confused on the days. He wanted me to . . . think about it during the night, what he'd do to us in the morning, if we didn't talk."

Jack let out a curse under his breath. Rafael had definitely died too quickly.

"The next morning, he, uh . . . used it."

"Doctor Fraiser said that she counted eleven separate burns on your body," General Hammond stated quietly.

Bill's head jerked up. "Eleven?" There was a note of horror in his voice, but something else as well. _He'd_ caved in after only three shocks, yet Daniel had still held firm after nearly a dozen. It made Bill feel ashamed.

Daniel knew what Bill was thinking, but this was not the time or place to talk to him about it.

"Things are a little hazy," he said. "I think I passed out a couple times. They woke me up by slapping my face. It would have been nice if they'd used water instead, although I guess getting me wet wouldn't have been a good idea."

Jack's hands were clenched with the murderous rage he was feeling. He really, really wanted to hit something right now. He'd definitely be spending some time in front of a punching bag after this.

"They finally gave up on me and decided to try Bill instead."

"Then you didn't tell them anything?" Hammond asked, impressed with the strength Daniel had shown. He's already known that the archeologist was a strong man, but even the strongest of men could be broken under torture.

"No, not then."

The general turned to Bill Lee, whose gaze was on the table. "Doctor Lee? Do you feel up to telling us what happened with you?"

"I told them. I'm sorry." He looked at Daniel with sad eyes filled with shame. "I'm so sorry, Daniel. I couldn't take it. When they used that battery, I just couldn't take it."

"Bill, it's all right," Daniel said. "You're not used to stuff like this. If this had happened to me nine years ago, I probably wouldn't have held out either. I've . . . gotten a lot tougher since then."

Though Jack had no intention of saying so, particularly not in front of Bill, he was pretty sure that, even nine years ago, before Daniel ever saw the Stargate, he'd still have withstood the torture. The strength that was within him now was there in that fight against Ra. But it wasn't Bill's fault that he wasn't made of the same stuff as Daniel. Few men were.

"Please tell us what you revealed about the device, Doctor Lee," Hammond requested, making no comment on the fact that the scientist had broken under torture. He was in no position to judge the man, not having gone through it himself.

Clearly still ashamed, Bill recounted what he told Rafael.

"Then you didn't tell them about Anubis or the Ancients? Nothing about the alien origin of the device?"

"No, I only told him about the Fountain of Youth stuff and that it belonged to someone named Telchak. He asked what the symbols were, and I told him they were an ancient language. He ordered me to translate it, but I don't know Ancient, so I couldn't."

"They brought Bill back to the shack," Daniel said. "A while later, I was taken again and asked more questions. I couldn't answer without revealing too much, so they hit me a few more times. I should have seen the warning signs right off. Rafael was acting very agitated and restless. I finally told him a little, just to try to appease him. He asked who Telchak was, and I said he was a Mayan god that may have lived there thousands of years ago. He wanted to know what the purpose of the device was. I told him that the research I used to find it gave a warning the device was dangerous. That's when he revealed that he'd already turned it on. I begged him to turn it off, but he wouldn't listen to me. It was clear that he was already addicted to the thing. He could feel how it was changing him, making him stronger, and he liked the feeling. One of his men, Chalo, was scared, and begged him to turn it off." Daniel paused. "Rafael shot him. After that, he had his other men take me back to the shack. I knew that we had to get out of there as soon as possible."

Daniel narrated how he got them out of the shack, Chalo's resurrection, and the escape into the jungle.

"Daniel saved my life," Bill interjected. "I couldn't run any more, so he hid me behind a tree and drew the rebels away from me."

"Well, if Jack and Burke hadn't shown up, I doubt you'd have stayed alive for long," Daniel responded. "Once Rafael was through with me, he'd have gone searching for you. He was pretty crazed by then. He, um . . . intended to skin me alive."

The revelation made Bill look a little sick. He was probably thinking that he'd have been next.

Daniel resumed his narration, ending at the moment Jack arrived and killed Rafael and the other two rebels.

"Jack probably already told you what happened after that."

Hammond nodded. "Yes, he did." He gazed at the two scientists soberly. "Doctor Jackson, Doctor Lee, I am terribly sorry about the ordeal you suffered. I feel a certain amount of responsibility since it was my decision to send you to Honduras alone."

"If it hadn't been for Rafael, everything would have been fine, sir," Daniel responded. "It was just a case of bad luck, or maybe bad timing. An hour later, and we'd probably have gotten in and out without any problems . . . well, except for the flooding temple."

Hammond gazed at him with sympathy and regret. "That will be all for now. Please have your reports to me by 1700 hours."

Daniel got to his feet with the aid of his crutches. A momentary feeling of dizziness assailed him, and he held onto the table for balance.

"Daniel, you okay?" Jack asked him.

"Yeah, I was just a little light-headed there for a bit. Janet's got me on quite a hefty dose of painkillers. Frankly, I'm surprised that I'm able to function this well."

"You should go lay back down for a while."

"I need to get my report written. Besides, I don't want to be asleep when Sam and Teal'c get back."

Daniel hobbled to his office, looking forward to when he'd no longer need the crutches. Danny was in the office, on his computer. He smiled when he saw Daniel, got up and hugged him, careful not to squeeze too tightly. The boy hadn't had a nightmare last night, which was apparently the first time his sleep was undisturbed since Daniel's kidnapping.

The archeologist knew that he needed to contact Meredith and see about resuming the therapy sessions. He was so afraid that this incident would set Danny back, cause some of his problems to resurface. He hoped that Meredith would be able to nip that in the bud.

Daniel got down to the business of writing his report. He knew that, in this written version, he would have to go into a lot more detail, including about the torture, which wasn't going to be easy. He'd have to detach himself from it, make it less personal. It was not the first time he'd had to do that.

It was getting close to noon when Daniel decided to take a break. Hopefully, Sam and Teal'c would be arriving soon.

As he lifted his hands from the keyboard, he noticed that they were trembling slightly. That's when he realized that he was feeling more than a little worn out. Janet would kill him if he overdid it. Perhaps he would take a little nap after lunch, if Sam and Teal'c didn't get back before then.

Just then, there was the announcement of an unscheduled off-world activation. Daniel smiled.

"Maybe that's Sam and Teal'c," he said to Danny. "I'm going to go see."

"Can I come?"

"Sure."

Hammond and Jack were already in the gate room when Daniel and Danny arrived. A few seconds later, Sam, Teal'c, Jacob and Bra'tac stepped through the gate. Sam's arm was in a sling, and Teal'c's side was bandaged.

"Daniel!" Sam cried. She ran down and threw her good arm around him. The archeologist held her as well as he could without letting go of the crutches.

Sam drew back and studied him closely. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Sam. Well, a bit worse for wear and a souvenir bullet wound in my leg, but everything will heal." Daniel frowned. "But what about you? What happened to your arm?"

"I sort of tangled with a supersoldier. It's not broken." She looked down at Danny. "Hey, how are _you_ doing?"

"Okay, now that Daniel's all right."

Sam smiled and met Daniel's eyes, feeling the same way.

"So, you miss me, Carter?" Jack asked.

Sam gave him a smile. "Of course, sir."

"Well, it couldn't have been _that_ bad. You're all still alive."

"So, you got the Telchak device," Jacob said. "That's good news. Hopefully, we can engineer a weapon from it."

"You must," Bra'tac stated, "or we will be left helpless to combat these new warriors."

Sam turned to Hammond. "Like I told you, sir, things are not looking good. Anubis has an entire army of these supersoldiers. There are thousands of them. The best we were able to do was delay his ability to manufacture more."

Hammond nodded grimly. "We'll debrief fully in one hour. Welcome home."

Everyone headed for the exit. Jack looked over at Sam.

"Hey."

She stopped and looked at him. Daniel and Danny stopped as well.

"Go on, Daniel," Jack said. "Get off your feet. Fraiser said to stay off that leg as much as possible. Better yet, go get some lunch. You've got a lot of catching up to do. I just want to chat with Carter for a bit." He turned back to Sam as the two Daniels left. "So, nice command."

"We did manage to make it out alive, sir."

Jack smiled slightly. "There's that. We'll have to talk about it sometime. So, how about some lunch?"

"Sounds good, sir."

They resumed walking, leaving the gate room and heading for the elevator.

"Sir, is Daniel really all right?" Sam asked. "He looks tired." The silence that followed her question worried her. "Sir?"

Jack sighed silently. "I guess there's no point in not telling you. You're gonna find out sooner or later."

Sam came to a complete halt, staring at Jack worriedly. "What is it?"

"They tortured him, Sam. Lee, too, but Daniel got the brunt of it. The rebels started out by not giving them food or water and indulging in a little psychological torture, making Daniel watch while the rebel leader ate pineapple and probably drank water. They beat them, of course. That was to be expected."

When Jack's voice halted, Sam braced herself for something much worse.

"They used a car battery," he finally said.

Nausea gripped Sam's stomach. "Oh, no."

"Daniel got shocked close to a dozen times because he wouldn't give in and tell them what they wanted to know."

Sam's throat tightened painfully.

"The bastards are dead, Carter, all of them," Jack told her with satisfaction.

"Has he talked to you about it?"

"No, not really. You know Daniel. He'd rather just forget about it, pretend like it didn't happen."

"I don't see how he can, not after something like that."

"Maybe you can get him to talk. I sure couldn't."

"I can try, sir." 


	41. Chapter 41

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Both Jack and Daniel sat in on the debriefing that came after lunch even though the archeologist knew he should be resting instead.

Daniel was fascinated by the news about the Goa'uld queen they'd found in a tank who was getting ready for another spawning cycle. The archeologist knew that Goa'uld symbiotes were normally spawned with the genetic memory of the maternal bloodline, but this queen apparently had no intention of passing on her genetic memory to the larvae she'd be spawning, symbiotes that Anubis would be using in his soldiers.

"Isn't that like what Egeria, the Tok'ra queen, did?" he asked.

Jacob nodded. "Yes. The queen must have been in league with Anubis. She deliberately kept her brainwave pattern as low as possible while spawning so that her genetic memory would not be passed on. Any larvae she spawned would have been like blank slates, with no minds of their own. Anubis could imprint them with anything he wanted to."

"We guessed that Anubis got the idea from Jonas' mind back when he was captured by Anubis and his mind was scanned," Sam said. "Jonas knew about what Egeria did, and Anubis must have decided it was exactly what he needed to make warriors completely loyal to him."

"But you killed the queen, so that's going to put a damper on him making more," Jack said.

"Yes, but only temporarily," Jacob responded. "Sooner or later, he will find another queen who is willing to go along with his plan, especially since he is the most powerful Goa'uld out there now. The only hope we have is that the device Daniel and Doctor Lee retrieved will enable us to create an effective weapon against those soldiers. The Tok'ra will want to get started as quickly as possible on that. Unless there's some objection, I'll take it with me when I go."

"Good riddance to the thing, as far as I'm concerned," Jack responded.

"Hear, hear," Daniel murmured.

"I don't think there will be a problem with that, Jacob," Hammond said. "I'm sure that Area 51 would love to get their hands on it, but they'll just have to wait their turn."

After the debriefing ended, Daniel and Danny headed straight for the elevator, the archeologist intending to curl up on the cot in his office and get a little sleep. He definitely felt like he needed it.

Sam came up to them. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Tired. I'm going to grab a nap in my office."

"You should go to your room. You'll get more rest."

"Yeah, maybe I will. I need to stop by the office first, though."

Sam looked down at the child walking beside them. "Hey, Danny. Could you go on up to the elevator and push the button? That way, Daniel won't have to wait for it."

The boy trotted ahead of them.

"Daniel, I thought I'd better tell you that Dad knows about us," Sam said the moment the child was out of earshot.

"What? How did he find out?"

"I guess he figured it out when he saw how upset I was about you. We haven't had a chance to talk about it very much."

"What do you want to do?"

She studied his face. "Right now, you need to get some sleep. If Dad wants to talk to us, he'll have to wait until after you wake up."

Sam accompanied Daniel and Danny on the elevator, saying goodbye to them when she got off on the level her lab was on.

Daniel helped Danny gather up his laptop and a few other things so that the boy would have something to do in their room while Daniel slept. They were interrupted by the arrival of Jacob.

"Hello, Danny," the Tok'ra said, smiling at the boy.

"Hello, Jacob."

Jacob glanced at Daniel. "Um, Danny, I'd like to chat with Daniel in private for a moment. How about if you go down to the commissary? I bet some ice cream would taste good."

Danny looked at Daniel uncertainly.

"Go ahead, Danny," he said, suddenly nervous. This could only be about one of two things: what happened in Honduras or his relationship with Sam. Daniel wasn't sure which one he'd prefer.

After the boy had left, Jacob shut the door, which heightened Daniel's nervousness. He sat down, having a feeling this might take a while.

"So, you're sleeping with my little girl," Jacob said.

Oh, crap! Daniel squirmed beneath the man's piercing gaze, flushing brightly. "Uhhhh. . . ."

"A 'yes, sir' or 'no, sir' will do."

Daniel swallowed. "Yes, sir," he said in a subdued voice.

"I see. And what are your intentions toward her?"

"I-I-I want to spend my life with her. I want us to be a family."

"And do you think that I'm going to give you my blessing?"

Daniel abruptly straightened his spine and looked Jacob straight in the eyes. "I hope that you will, but, even if you don't, I won't end the relationship. I love her more than I can say. She and Danny are more important to me than anything else in the universe, including my own life. I know that you might be unhappy about this because we're teammates. Maybe you don't think I'm good enough for her. Perhaps I'm _not_ good enough. Sometimes, I wonder how she can love me. But we do love each other. We're good together. We make each other happy, and I'll spend the rest of my life giving her all that I can."

For the longest time, Jacob just stared at him, his face expressionless. Then, suddenly, he smiled. And then he laughed.

"Forgive me, Daniel. I just couldn't resist."

Daniel blinked in confusion. "I, uh . . . what?"

"I'm not the least bit displeased by your relationship with Sam. Yes, it surprised me, but it wasn't an unpleasant surprise. In fact, I've had time to think about it, and I really couldn't be happier. I think you will be good for my daughter, and I know that she loves you very much."

Daniel gaped at him. "Then all that other stuff was. . . ."

"Just me having a bit of fun at your expense." Jacob grinned. "It's a father's right to interrogate his daughter's boyfriends, after all."

Daniel relaxed, breathing a huge sigh of relief. "You really had me going there, Jacob."

The man chuckled. "Sorry about that. Selmak is presently scolding me for scaring you."

"I really do love her."

"I know, Daniel." He studied the younger man closely. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired, and I need to take another pain pill."

Jacob gazed at him sympathetically. "Daniel, I would never ask you to tell me something that you didn't feel comfortable about, but I know that you went through a rough time over there. I know about the telepathic link between you and Danny and that he sensed you were being harmed by your captors. Thankfully, I was never a prisoner of war here on Earth, but there was that little incident on Netu, and I had buddies in the service who were in the hands of the enemy and were brutalized. So, if you feel the need to talk to someone, and you don't think you can talk to Sam or one of your other teammates, I've got a listening ear you can borrow."

"Thanks, Jacob. I appreciate that."

"Well, I'll let you get some rest. I'm going to be heading back soon, so I'll go ahead and say goodbye. Take care of yourself, Daniel. You can't watch out for my little girl, if you're not watching out for yourself."

Daniel nodded, smiling. Once Jacob had left, he took a pain pill, seeing that his hands were shaking even more than before. Deciding to lying down on the cot until Danny returned, he pulled it out. It did not take long before he was asleep.

* * *

"Sam, you should have come straight to the infirmary," Janet scolded as she examined the astrophysicist's arm.

"The Tok'ra already looked at it, Janet. It's no big deal, just a mild sprain and some strained muscles."

"Let me be the judge of that." She rotated and palpated the arm, causing Sam to wincing in pain. "There is some swelling. It wasn't dislocated?"

"No, though I'm lucky it wasn't. Actually, I'm lucky I don't have broken bones and a nasty concussion. Those supersoldiers hit really hard."

Janet continued the exam, asking Sam some questions and having her move the arm around. She finally admitted that the diagnosis had been correct.

The doctor helped Sam back into the sling. "You're going to have to take it easy on that arm until it heals. No motorcycle riding."

Sam nodded.

Janet studied her closely. "Is there something else?"

"Yeah. It's about Daniel. The colonel told me what the rebels did to him. Janet, is he really okay? All he will admit to is that he's tired."

Janet sighed. "As well as could be expected, I guess. Did the colonel tell you that Daniel was exposed to the device for several minutes?"

"No. He was?"

"Yes, the rebels turned it on. It partly healed the injuries he sustained beforehand, the burns and most of the bruises. He'd be in a lot more pain, if it wasn't for that. In fact, I probably would have insisted that he stay here another day. But, even with the partial healing, he still isn't in great shape. And we're just talking physically. Psychologically. . . ." Janet gave a slight shrug. "There's bound to be at least some fallout from this, and, knowing Daniel, he'll try to hide it."

"Yeah, but I'm not going to let him. He needs to learn that we want to help him when he's hurting."

* * *

When Daniel woke up, he saw that Danny was back and at his computer. The archeologist looked at his watch and saw that he'd been asleep for three hours. He should be feeling better. So, why wasn't he?

"Hey," he called out.

Danny turned to him, smiling. "You're awake. Jack and Teal'c came over, but they left when they saw you sleeping. Jack told me not to let anybody wake you up, so I didn't."

"Thanks." Daniel sat up and slowly got to his feet. A wave of dizziness struck him, and he had to grab the wall to keep from falling. He saw that his hands were shaking violently. It felt like his whole body was shaking.

A feeling of dread filled Daniel. Oh God, no. Please, not that.

Even as the thought entered his mind, Daniel's vision greyed out. His legs crumpled, and he fell to the floor. He heard Danny cry out his name in fear.

"Danny, get help," he gasped. Then the blackness closed over his mind.

* * *

Sam picked up the ringing phone in her lab. "Carter."

"Sam, come quick!" cried Danny's terrified voice. "Daniel's sick! Hurry, please hurry!"

"What? Danny, what happened?"

"I don't know!" the boy wailed. "He's not moving. Please hurry."

"Where are you?" Sam asked, trying to remain calm.

"In Daniel's office."

"I'll be right there." Sam hung up and called Janet, telling her that something was wrong with Daniel. Then she was out of her lab. Knowing that it would be faster, she bypassed the elevator and took the stairs. Upon reaching Daniel's office, she quickly opened the door with her keycard and rushed in. She came to a screeching halted, horrified at the sight before her. Daniel was lying still on the floor. His head was in Danny's lap, and the boy was sobbing.

"He's dead. He's dead," Danny was saying over and over again.

No! Sam dashed forward and fell to her knees before them. She felt for Daniel's pulse. An intense wave of relief nearly drowned her upon finding one.

Sam cupped the boy's face in her hands, turning his eyes to meet hers. "Danny, he's not dead. He's alive. Here. Feel this." Sam placed the tips of Danny's fingers over the pulse point in Daniel's neck. "You feel that? That's his pulse. It means that his heart is still beating. As long as you can feel that, it means that Daniel is alive."

Danny stared down at Daniel, feeling the movement beneath his fingers. "H-h-he's alive?"

Sam caressed his hair. "Yes, sweetheart."

"He fell, and he wouldn't wake up. I thought he was dead."

At that moment, Janet arrived. The doctor took Sam's place and began checking the archeologist's vitals. As she was doing that, a medical team came in with a gurney.

"Janet, what is it?" Sam asked.

"I can't say for certain yet, but I'm afraid it may be what I've been worried about since I learned of his exposure to the device."

Sam understood what she was saying. "Oh, no."

"What? What's wrong?" Danny asked.

"I won't know for sure until I do some tests, honey," the doctor replied.

Daniel was loaded onto the gurney, and everyone hurried to the infirmary. Sam and Danny were not allowed to follow as Daniel was taken into an exam room.

Sam went to the phone and called Jack's office. When he didn't answer, she had him paged. He arrived a couple of minutes later. Seeing the state that Danny and Sam were in, he knew that something was very wrong with Daniel.

"What happened?"

"Daniel's really sick," Danny replied, tears still coursing down his cheeks.

Jack's eyes went to Sam. "Carter?"

"We don't know for sure what's wrong yet, sir, but Janet thinks. . . ."

"What?" Jack snapped.

"The device, Colonel."

Her meaning was immediately clear to him. "Crap," he cursed.

"What do you mean?" Danny asked, his level of fear rising up another notch.

"Let's wait to see what Janet says," Sam replied.

Teal'c arrived just then, and the three teammates waited with Danny for word on Daniel. The child finally stopped crying, but he continued to cling to Sam, who'd put him on her lap.

It was quite some time before Janet came out.

"What's wrong with him?" Jack immediately asked.

"I'm afraid that he's suffering from withdrawal. His exposure to the device must have been long enough to create a certain level of addiction."

"You mean he's going to go through that hell again?"

"To be honest, I don't know what to expect, Colonel. He is not presenting exactly the same symptoms as before, though there are some similarities. We're not talking about a sarcophagus this time. This is technology we have no experience with."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked, frightened. "What does withdrawal mean?"

Jack knelt before the boy. "You know the thing that Daniel went to Honduras to get?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it got turned on by the men who kidnapped him. It's very harmful. Daniel is sick because of the time he spent near it. But he's going to be okay." Jack looked up at Janet. "Right, Doc?"

As a doctor, Janet's first instinct was to tell the truth, that she honestly didn't know if Daniel would be all right, but she knew she couldn't say that in front of Danny. She looked down at the boy. "We'll do all we can to make him well."

"Is it like radiation?" Danny asked in a tiny voice.

"No. No, it's not like radiation, Danny, not at all."

"He died from the radiation."

Janet's heart clenched, the memories of that time rising back into her mind, her desperate yet hopeless struggle to save her friend.

She squatted before the child. "I know, Danny, but this isn't the same thing. Yes, Daniel is sick, but he's not dying. He has a good chance of coming out of this okay. So, you just keep thinking positive thoughts, all right?"

Danny nodded, sniffling. "Can I see him?"

"No, honey, I'm sorry, but he's too sick right now. But, as soon as he's well enough, you can visit him."

"Danny, could you go with Teal'c for a while?" Jack asked. "Sam and I need to talk to Janet."

"But I want to stay here until I can see Daniel."

Teal'c held out his hand to the boy. "Come, young Daniel Jackson. We shall go to my quarters and perform Kel'no'reem. The moment that you will be allowed to visit Daniel Jackson, I will bring you here."

Reluctantly, Danny went with the Jaffa.

"Okay, tell us the truth, Doc," Jack said to Janet. "How bad is he?"

"He's conscious now, but he's not fully lucid. He's confused and disoriented. Among other things, we're seeing severe chemical imbalances, like we did last time. He is presently exhibiting many symptoms similar to what you'd see in someone suffering from Serotonin Syndrome."

"What's that?"

"It's a condition that is caused by elevated serotonin concentrations in the body. It's generally brought on by the use of serotonogenic drugs, like some antidepressants. It can also result from the use of drugs like cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy and LSD. The thing is, though, that Daniel has also been showing symptoms that you'd see after the use of a powerful depressant. The levels of serotonin, dopamine and other neurotransmitters keep fluctuating."

"So, what does all this mean?" Sam asked.

"It means that treating him is not going to be easy. We may have no choice but to let this run its course and just try to make him as comfortable as we can. It also means that he's going to have a very rough time of it, both physically and emotionally. One good thing is that I don't believe he will become violent or exhibit signs of paranoia like he did last time."

Jack frowned. "So, eventually, he'll be okay, right?"

"I honestly don't know, sir. If those neurotransmitter levels go too high or drop too low, it could be fatal. We're going to be taking frequent blood tests to keep an eye on things. At this point, there's not much else we can do, although I am giving him medication to relieve the muscular symptoms. I can't chance giving him any drugs to raise or lower the level of a chemical that could turn around and decrease or increase on its own. It would be far too dangerous, and I could end up killing him."

"Can we see him?" Sam asked.

"All right, but just for a little while."

Janet led Jack and Sam to a room in the ICU. Daniel was lying on the bed, his body moving restlessly. His flushed face was bathed in sweat, his entire body wracked with tremors.

Sam laid a hand on his face. It was hot. "Daniel, it's Sam. Can you hear me?"

Daniel's eyes opened. "Sam? Where am I? What's happening?"

"Shh. It's okay. You're safe. You're in the infirmary."

Daniel's face filled with anguish. "Oh, God. The sarcophagus." Tears began leaking from the corners of his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Jack stepped to the other side of the bed, grasping his friend's shoulder. "No, Daniel, it's not the sarcophagus. That was a long time ago, and you have nothing to be sorry about. Remember Honduras? You went to get the Telchak device. It got turned on."

Daniel's eyes darted back and forth, his brow furrowed. "Telchak? The device?"

"Yes, that's right. You're going through withdrawal because it got turned on."

"No! Please, not again," Daniel cried. "I'll hurt somebody."

"You're not going to hurt anyone, Daniel. You and everybody else will be fine."

"Danny. Don't let Danny see me like this. Please."

Tears filled Sam's eyes. God, this was awful. "Danny loves you, Daniel. We all love you. We all want to be here for you."

Daniel no longer seemed to be aware of their presence, his eyes staring at nothing. His respiration and restlessness increased dramatically.

"Nnnooo," he moaned.

Sam rushed to the door and cried for help. Janet was there in seconds. Daniel had begun to struggle, as if against an unseen foe. Jack had hold of his flailing arms and was trying to calm him, but it was as if Daniel wasn't even aware of his presence, his consciousness lost in some horror within his mind.

The doctor hurriedly called for help and for someone to bring a sedative, then rushed to the bed, her eyes on the monitors. Daniel's vital signs were going crazy, heart, respiration and blood pressure extremely elevated. The heart rhythm was broken by frequent PVC's, his heart repeatedly skipping beats.

Three nurses ran in, one with a hypodermic. Janet took it and injected it into the IV. The other two nurses moved in to help Jack hold Daniel down, but it suddenly no longer became necessary as the archeologist's eyes rolled back into his head, and he abruptly went limp. Janet's gaze shot to the monitor. Then she checked his pupils.

"Janet?" Sam said in a frightened voice.

"He's lost consciousness," the doctor replied.

"What the hell just happened?" Jack asked.

"I don't know, sir." Janet straightened. "What happened before I got here?"

The two members of SG-1 filled her in on everything.

Janet sighed. "It's possible that Daniel was having a flashback. As you already know, flashbacks are a common symptom of PTSD, but they also occur after the use of certain drugs that alter brain chemistry, like LSD. Daniel's brain chemistry is fluctuating significantly, and I'm afraid that he may experience flashbacks and severe nightmares."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Sam asked.

"As I said before, I'm very limited on what medications I can give him because of the instability of his brain chemistry, but I'll do all I can to lessen the symptoms. I'm going to assign a nurse to check on him every ten minutes, and we'll keep a close eye on his vital signs at the monitoring station. If there's another incident, we'll know about it before it gets out of hand."

"Shouldn't somebody stay with him?" Sam asked. "I could stay."

"Sam, when was the last time you got a decent night's sleep? You need rest."

"I'll stay with him," Jack said.

"Actually, Colonel, I was wondering if you could talk to Danny. He's very frightened. He's going to want to see Daniel, but, until Daniel's condition has stabilized somewhat, I can't let Danny visit. It would be too dangerous and far too upsetting for him. He needs someone he trusts and feels safe with to assure him that Daniel will be all right."

Jack studied her closely. "And will he be all right?"

"I can't guarantee it, but I think so. It just may take a few days, which is another reason why Danny needs to be talked to. The longer we don't allow him to see Daniel, the more upset and frightened he will become. I'm hoping that, by tomorrow or the next day, Daniel will be well enough for Danny to visit, but that's not for certain."

"All right. I'll talk to him."

As Sam went off to attempt to get some sleep, Jack went to Teal'c's quarters. When he got there, he was presented with a sight that he'd never have expected. Teal'c was on his bed, his head and back propped up against the headboard. A sleeping Danny was on the bed with him, curled against the Jaffa's side, an arm draped over Teal'c's stomach. Jack couldn't help but smile at the sight of the powerful Jaffa being hugged by the sleeping child like a huge teddy bear. And what's more, Teal'c didn't appear to be the least bit uncomfortable about it.

"How is Daniel Jackson?" he asked.

"Not too good, T," Jack replied. He explained what had happened.

"Doctor Fraiser believes that he will recover?"

"Yeah, but she's not giving any guarantees. She thinks it's possible that something like this might happen again." His eyes went to Danny. "How long has he been out?"

"No more than a few minutes. He is deeply concerned about Daniel Jackson."

"I know. That's why I'm here. Fraiser wants me to talk to him."

"I have already spoken to him about the many times that Daniel Jackson has survived against great odds."

"All of them? That must have taken a while."

"Indeed."

"You're right, Teal'c. Daniel is a survivor and has made it through stuff that a lot of guys wouldn't have. But, unlike us, Danny hasn't seen that for himself. He's a little kid with memories of losing his parents who is now scared to death that he's going to lose the person he loves more than anyone else alive. I just hope I have the right words to say."

"I trust that you will be able to find them, O'Neill," Teal'c responded.

"Thanks."

Danny's eyes opened just then. Jack smiled at him.

"Hey there, sleepyhead."

The boy sat up. "Is Daniel okay? Can I see him?"

"No, not yet, Danny. I'm sorry. It's still going to be a while before you can see him."

"But why?"

"Because he's just too sick, like Doctor Fraiser said."

Tears welled up. "He's dying, isn't he. He's dying, and you don't want me to know."

Jack leaned forward, bringing his face closer to Danny's. "Hey, you listen to me. I wouldn't do that, Danny. If Daniel was that sick, I'd tell you the truth. I wouldn't hide it from you."

"You promise?"

"Yes, I promise. He is very sick, but Janet is pretty sure he'll be fine. But it might take some time, several days at least."

"But I can see him before then, right?"

"I think so, probably not until tomorrow or the next day, though."

Danny's face fell. "But that's a long time."

"I'm sure it'll pass quickly."

Danny's gaze dropped to the bedcovers. "Uncle Jack, how bad did those men hurt Daniel?"

Jack stilled. Oh, crap.

"Daniel said they hit him and didn't give him food or water," Danny continued, "and I know he got shot. But I think there's something else he's not telling me."

"Why do you think that?"

"I don't know. When Daniel was getting hurt and I felt it, I know it was really bad. He was screaming and scared, and his thoughts were all mixed up."

Jack wondered exactly how much of the experience the boy had sensed.

"You said you'd tell me the truth," Danny finished.

Shit. What was he supposed to do now? He knew that Daniel didn't want Danny to know the full extent of the torture, and Jack agreed with him, but the boy was obviously going to have to be told something.

Jack sighed. "Yes, they hurt him more than that, Danny." He sat down on the edge of the bed. "Have you ever gotten shocked, like when you touched an electrical outlet?"

"Uh huh. It tingles and kind of hurts."

Jack nodded. "Well, the men who took Daniel did something like that to him, but with a whole lot more electricity. It was very painful. That's what you were sensing." He paused. "Danny, even after Daniel is well, there is a good chance that he'll have nightmares about this. I just want you to be prepared for that and not be frightened by it."

An announcement came over the P.A. for Jack to go to General Hammond's office. He got to his feet. "I need to go see about that, Danny." He looked at the boy closely. "Are you okay?"

Danny nodded very faintly, his gaze lowered. It didn't take a genius to see that the boy wasn't really okay.

Jack watched him for a moment, then went to the phone. He called the infirmary.

"Hey, Doc. Is Daniel still out?"

"Yes, he is."

Jack looked over at the child. "Do you think it would be okay if Danny just peeked his head in for a bit?"

The question made Danny's head quickly rise, hope shining in his eyes.

"Well, I guess it would be all right," Janet answered. "Just a quick visit."

"Great. He'll be there in a few." Jack hung up the phone. "The doctor says you can go see Daniel, but just for a minute."

Danny scrambled off the bed. "Thank you, Uncle Jack."

"You're welcome. Teal'c, can you take him?"

"Yes."

The Jaffa took Danny to the infirmary. When they got there, Janet met them.

"Okay, Danny, you can go see him, but just for a little while. He's asleep right now, and we don't want him to wake up."

"Okay."

Teal'c, Janet and Danny went to Daniel's room and quietly entered. Janet lowered the railing on one side of the bed so that Danny could see the archeologist better. The boy gazed at Daniel's face. Seeing the flushed skin and perspiration, he touched the man's cheek.

"He's hot," the boy said.

"Yes, he has a fever," Janet responded. "It's not too terribly high, though."

"He's going to get better?"

"Yes, I think so, Danny. It will take a while, but I believe he will get better."

Danny leaned over and rested his head on Daniel's chest, an arm going around him. "I love you, Daniel," he whispered.

The expression of love almost brought tears to Janet's eyes. She wished that she could allow the boy to stay, but she didn't know what Daniel's mental state would be when he woke up.

They let Danny remain like that for a few seconds longer, then Teal'c walked up to the bed.

"Come, young Daniel Jackson. We must allow him to rest."

The three of them left the room.

"Thank you for letting me see him, Janet," Danny said.

The doctor smiled down at him. "You're welcome. I hope that, by tomorrow, he'll be well enough for you to talk with."

"I'll be glad when he's better."

"So will I, Danny. So will we all." 


	42. Chapter 42

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Jack sat down in one of the chairs across from Hammond.

"Doctor Fraiser has filled me in on the situation with Doctor Jackson, including the incident in his room," the general said. "I can't tell you how sorry I am that this has happened."

"Yes, sir. We're all really sorry it happened."

"Colonel, I think we need to discuss the ramifications of this."

"What do you mean?"

"After the incident with the sarcophagus, it was required that Doctor Jackson be evaluated by Doctor MacKenzie to determine if he was psychologically fit to resume active duty."

Jack frowned. "With all due respect, General, there's no way I'm letting that quack have a crack at Daniel again. No matter what anyone says, I'll never forgive what MacKenzie did, and I know that Daniel would refuse to talk to him."

"I know, Jack, and I wouldn't even consider making him do that, but the fact remains that not only is he yet again having to go through a serious withdrawal from the effects of alien technology, he was also brutally tortured. There are therapists specifically trained to treat victims of torture. You yourself spoke with one after the incident with Ba'al last year."

"He won't agree to it, sir."

"Not even if returning to active duty on SG-1 required it?"

Jack thought about it. "Yeah, he'd probably do it then, but he wouldn't be happy about it."

"I understand that, which is why I was considering something else."

"What's that, sir?"

"I've talked to Doctor Woods about Danny's therapy treatments. Because of confidentiality issues, she couldn't give me any details, but she has kept me updated on how well he's been doing. She mentioned that, in the therapy sessions, Daniel has been helping Danny open up by sharing some of his own experiences and emotional issues regarding his parents' death and what happened afterwards."

That really surprised Jack. "He has? I was kind of hoping he would, but I really didn't expect it."

"He did it for Danny's sake. He loves that boy a great deal. Doctor Woods said that she has built a good rapport with both of them."

"And you're thinking that she might be able to help Daniel?"

"It may be possible," Hammond replied. "Her field of expertise is children, but Daniel apparently trusts her and feels at ease with her. All I can do is contact her, explain the situation, and see what she says."

"I'd say go for it, sir. Even if she can't help Daniel, she could help Danny deal with this. That whole kidnapping thing gave the poor kid nightmares every night. He's terrified that Daniel will die. The stuff he sensed when Daniel was being shocked by that battery made things even worse. He kept begging to see Daniel, so I convinced Fraiser to let him visit for just a minute or two while Daniel is still sleeping."

Hammond nodded. "I will contact Doctor Woods as soon as possible."

Jack frowned. "Woods," he murmured. The name, which was the same as the friend Burke had been forced to kill, reminded him of a conversation he had with the CIA operative in the camp while they were waiting for Daniel and Bill to get the Telchak device.

He heard the general call his name and looked at the man. "Sorry, sir. I just remembered a promise I made to Agent Burke. He did a good job helping me rescue Daniel and Lee. In fact, we'd probably be dead if it weren't for him. He's been stuck in Honduras for a long time, and I told him I'd do what I could to get him transferred out of there."

General Hammond studied Jack's features for a long moment. "All right. I'll make a few calls, see what I can do."

"Thank you, sir."

Once Jack had left, Hammond made the call to Meredith. Because of the late hour, he called the therapist's cell phone instead of her office.

"Doctor Woods, this is General Hammond."

"General? Is there a problem?"

"I'm afraid that something has happened. There was trouble on a mission."

"Something happened to Daniel," Meredith instantly guessed.

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"Please don't tell me he's. . . ."

"No, he's not dead, but the situation is pretty serious. He was kidnapped and tortured."

Meredith let out a gasp. "Oh my lord. How is he?"

"Physically, the doctors think he will pull through. Psychologically. . . . There are details of the incident that I cannot discuss over the phone. Would it be possible for you to come here tomorrow? I know it's Sunday, but. . . ."

"That doesn't matter," Meredith instantly replied. "How is Danny taking it? Does he know what happened?"

"Yes, he knows, though not all the details about the torture. He has not reacted well, I'm afraid. This whole situation has been very hard on him."

"I'll head over first thing in the morning, General. Sir, is it possible for Danny to be with Daniel? Right now, I'm guessing that Danny really needs to be close to him. I don't know the extent of Daniel's injuries, but, even if those injuries would be frightening to a child, with the bond that the two of them share and Danny's history, it will be better for him if he can be there with Daniel so he can see for himself that Daniel really is alive."

"I'm afraid that, because of certain physical conditions, it hasn't been possible to allow Danny to be with him, except for one very short visit. We're hoping that will change tomorrow."

"All right. I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Sam had only managed to get a couple of hours of sleep, her worry over Daniel making it hard for her to relax.

As she entered Daniel's room, she saw that Jack was there.

"Sir? Did you talk to Danny?"

"Yeah. I tried to convince him that Daniel isn't going to die, but I don't know how successful I was. The doc let him see Daniel for a minute. Hammond talked to me about this whole thing." Jack recounted the conversation.

"I hope Meredith can help," Sam said.

"So do I."

A low moan drew their eyes to the bed. Though he appeared to still be asleep, Daniel was showing signs of restlessness again.

"Noooo. Please don't," he mumbled.

Guessing he was having a nightmare, Sam approached the bed. As she touched his arm, he jerked violently and cried out.

"Please don't hit me again, Mister Schubert. I'll be quiet. I promise."

Both Jack and Sam froze at Daniel's words and the tone of his voice, which was almost childlike. Jack's hands closed into fists. There was no mistaking what his best friend had just revealed.

Daniel was now almost babbling, his words barely understandable. But Jack and Sam did understand, and what he was saying tore at their hearts.

"Please, not again. I'm just an archeologist." His breathing grew more rapid. "Turn it off! Turn it off! No, they're not dead. Jack!"

At the outcry of his name, Jack jumped forward and grasped Daniel's shoulder and shook him. "Daniel, wake up!"

Jack's attempts to awaken Daniel proved fruitless. The archeologist seemed locked into the horror of the nightmare. What he was saying was no longer understandable, broken and jumbled. Only occasional words came through clearly, enough that Jack and Sam could tell that the nightmare was mixing up the events in Honduras with what happened when Daniel, Jack and Sam were prisoners of the Bedrosian military.

And then several sentences came through with complete clarity. "No, please! I'm not crazy! Please let me out of here!"

Sam gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth.

The violence of Daniel's nightmare seemed to wane. He gave a soft whimper, mumbled something about being turned into a mummy, then gradually grew still.

Just then, Sam noticed that Janet had come into the room. She was staring at Daniel, her face pale.

"Janet?" Sam inquired.

The doctor seemed to regain control of herself. "Nothing. It's just. . . . That last thing he said, it was what he said to me when he was dying from the radiation, and the necrosis had gotten bad. He commented that he'd never have thought he'd be turned into a mummy."

"Crap," Jack cursed softly.

Janet came forward to check the monitor and take a look at Daniel. "I'm sorry someone didn't respond sooner. We had an emergency with another patient."

Jack vaguely recalled hearing a Code Blue announcement but had been too preoccupied with Daniel to pay attention.

"I'm assuming he was having a nightmare," the doctor said.

"Nightmare? That's the understatement of the year," Jack responded.

Janet asked for details.

"I'm not surprised by what was in the dream," she said after she was filled in. "If you think about it, all of those events have a common theme. They all had to do with incidents of extreme pain, addiction, captivity or physical abuse, four things that Daniel has experienced yet again over these past few days."

Jack stared at her narrowly. "Wait a minute. Did you already know that Daniel was abused as a child?"

"I have all of his medical records, Colonel. It includes reports of childhood bruising that was not satisfactorily explained. No broken bones, but Daniel was brought to a clinic with evidence that he'd suffered a concussion a couple of days previously."

"It took them two days to bring him in?" Sam exclaimed.

"In cases of domestic child abuse, if it's the husband committing the abuse, the wife is often either too frightened to report what's happening or is trying to convince herself that it's not as bad as it really is. Then there are the women who figure the child did something to deserve it."

"No child deserves to be hit so hard they get a concussion," Jack growled, a murderous look on his face.

"No, of course not."

"How old was he?" Sam asked, terribly upset by what she now knew.

"Eleven, I believe. I'm guessing that the incident with the concussion put an end to it. The physician added in his notes that he reported possible child abuse to the authorities. After that, there was nothing else in Daniel's medical records that suggested abuse."

"Why didn't Daniel ever tell us?"

"Probably because he knew I'd want to kill the bastard that did that to him," Jack replied.

"It's common for people who were abused or molested as a child never to reveal it," Janet said. "Many feel ashamed about it even though it was in no way their fault, or they don't want to be pitied, looked at differently. I'd suggest that you don't tell Daniel you know. If you do have to tell him, don't make a big deal out of it."

"Is this going to happen again?" Sam asked, hoping the answer would be no.

"I'm afraid that it might. There may also be more flashbacks. The one good thing is that Daniel will likely not remember the dreams and may also not retain any memories of the flashbacks. That's the best we can hope for, at this point."

* * *

It had been a rough night for everyone. With Daniel's brain chemistry fluctuating so dramatically, he kept going from one extreme to the other, from restless, anxious, and confused to lethargic, withdrawn and deeply depressed. He had several more flashbacks and frequent nightmares. Throughout it all, he was never fully cognizant for more than a few minutes at a time. It was tearing his teammates apart seeing him like that.

Meredith arrived at nine o'clock. As requested, she went to Hammond's office. The general shook her hand.

"Thank you for coming, Doctor."

"How is Daniel doing?"

"Not well, I'm afraid. It was a bad night for him."

"What are his injuries?"

"The problem is not with his injuries, Doctor. They are all healing well. The problem is a great deal more complicated than that."

Leaving out the details about Anubis, Telchak and other things regarding the Goa'uld and Ancients, Hammond told Meredith about the mission, Daniel's kidnapping and torture, and the effects of the Telchak device.

"So, what you're saying is that Daniel has developed an addiction to this device," the therapist said, her mind still grasping the horror of what Daniel suffered.

Hammond nodded. "And he is now going through withdrawal. Doctor Fraiser will be able to explain it better." He picked up a medical file. "This is not the first time Doctor Jackson has been exposed to something like this. Several years ago, another situation occurred during which he was dangerously addicted to technology that was originally developed from the device we recovered in Honduras." The general handed her the file. "That is Doctor Fraiser's medical report on what Doctor Jackson suffered as a result."

Meredith began reading the report, her horror growing with each sentence. She thought of the kind, loving, gentle man she'd met, then tried to picture him as the crazed, dangerous addict he'd become.

The woman lifted her eyes to Hammond's. "General, is this what Daniel is going through again?"

"Not exactly. So far, he has not grown violent or paranoid, but, from what I have been told, what he is suffering could be considered even worse. Doctor Fraiser will be able to fill you in on everything."

"How about Danny?"

"He's still being kept away. According to Colonel O'Neill, he is extremely upset and keeps asking to be allowed to see Doctor Jackson."

Meredith nodded. "I'd like to go to the infirmary first, then I'll talk to Danny."

When the therapist arrived at the infirmary, she was met by a tired, grim-faced Janet.

"General Hammond filled me in on what's been happening," Meredith told her. "How is he doing?"

"Better. The fluctuations in his brain chemistry are not as severe as they were yesterday and during the night. I'm hoping this is a sign that the worst is almost over. How much did General Hammond tell you?"

"Not everything. He told me about the device and the effect on Daniel's brain chemistry. He also showed me the medical report on what happened last time. But I don't know the details on what's been happening this time."

Janet gave Meredith the full story on Daniel's condition, leaving nothing out.

The therapist gave a sad sigh. "It sounds like he's been going through hell."

"He's not the only one. This has been very hard on his teammates, especially Sam. She's in with him now." The doctor showed Meredith Daniel's chart.

The woman shook her head. "In my job, I have to be familiar with how the various neurotransmitters influence moods and what imbalances can do, but I have never seen anything like this. These levels are all over the place. You must be having a hard time keeping his blood pressure under control."

"Yes, it's been a big concern at times. It rose extremely high when he had his first flashback. We're very limited on what medications we can give him because of the instability of his brain chemistry."

"Is Daniel's previous addiction a factor in what he's going through now? Did it make him more susceptible to this?"

"No, this would have happened regardless. As far as we know, sarcophagus addiction only happens under two circumstances: if one is used by a healthy human – someone who isn't sick or injured – or when one is used repeatedly during a short period of time. If Daniel was injured or very ill, and he was placed in a sarcophagus, there would be no ill effects. Unfortunately, this isn't the case with the device found in Honduras. From what we know, limited exposure from a distance is not harmful, but Daniel was exposed at close range, and, even though it was only for a few minutes, it was enough to cause an addiction." Janet shook her head with a sigh. "I should have realized before now that the odds of Daniel suffering some level of withdrawal were pretty high, based on what we already knew about the device. I can only imagine what would have happened if his exposure had been substantially longer. The withdrawal may very well have proved fatal. He was very lucky."

Janet took Meredith to one of the observation rooms.

"We had to move him last night to one of the isolation rooms," she explained. "It became necessary to have someone monitoring him full-time. I've resisted the use of restraints because I knew it could upset him even more, especially considering what his flashbacks have been about. The last thing he needs is to feel trapped."

Meredith looked down into the room below. Daniel appeared to be asleep. His face was pale and drawn, a sheen of perspiration on his skin. Sam was sitting beside him, running her fingers slowly through his hair, her other hand holding his.

"He's been asleep for around three hours now," Janet said, "which is the longest period of natural, undisturbed sleep he's had since all this began."

"Do you have any idea how much longer he's going to be suffering from this withdrawal?"

"The withdrawal from the sarcophagus addiction lasted several days. I'm hoping it won't be as long this time. This addiction was not nearly as extreme. In fact, we didn't even know he was addicted until he suddenly collapsed. He was not exhibiting any changes in his personality before then. Daniel reported that the men who kidnapped him showed clear signs of being affected by the device. But the truth is that we can't make any assumptions. Though the sarcophagus may have originally been developed from the same technology, that device found in Honduras is vastly more powerful and may have effects on the body that we know nothing about."

Meredith gazed at Daniel's face, saddened by what he was going through. "I wish I could help him, but, until his brain chemistry is back to normal, it probably wouldn't do much good. I do want to talk to Danny, though."

"He's been begging to see Daniel again, but I think you can understand why I haven't allowed it."

"Yes, I do, although I believe Danny needs to be allowed to see him as soon as you think it's possible. No matter how many times he may be told that Daniel isn't going to die, he'll still be afraid that's what's going to happen."

"Did General Hammond tell you that Danny sensed what was being done to Daniel?"

Meredith's head jerked around to face her. "What? No, he didn't."

"It was when the rebels were using the car battery. Though he didn't actually feel the pain, Danny sensed that Daniel was in agony. He fell apart. I had to sedate him and keep him out until Daniel returned."

"Dear God. How horrible. With what he sensed, Danny's anxiety over Daniel would be heightened even more. I really need to talk to him."

"I believe he's with Colonel O'Neill in Daniel's office."

Meredith wasted no time in going to the office. When she got there, she saw that Danny was on Jack's lap, and the two of them were playing on the computer. Jack looked up and saw her.

"Hey, Danny. Look who's here," he said to the boy.

Danny turned from the screen. "Doctor Woods?"

Meredith came forward with a smile. "Hello, Danny."

"Daniel's sick."

"Yes, I know. General Hammond and Doctor Fraiser told me all about it and about what happened to him in Honduras."

Danny's gaze fell to his lap. "They really hurt him a lot."

Meredith knelt beside the chair. "I know, and I'm very, very sorry it happened."

"Daniel's sick because of that thing he and Doctor Lee found."

"Yes." Meredith glanced up at Jack, then back to the boy. "Is it okay if I talk with you about this for a while?"

Danny shrugged, still not looking at her. "I guess."

Meredith sat on the cot, motioning for Danny to sit beside her.

"You want me to leave?" Jack asked the therapist.

"Danny, do you want Colonel O'Neill to stay or would you rather talk with me alone?"

"I want him to stay," the boy replied.

"Okay. Danny, I know that you're very frightened about what's happening with Daniel, and that's understandable. Are you afraid that he's going to die?"

After a small hesitation, Danny nodded, eyes on his hands.

"Jack and the others have told you that he isn't going to die, haven't they?" There was another, smaller nod. "But you're still afraid. Can you tell me why that is?"

"Because they won't let me see him again. When Mom and Dad died, I didn't get to see them because they were dead." Danny began to cry. "I never got to see them again."

Meredith met Jack's eyes, seeing his distress.

"Danny, sometimes, when a person is sick, it's necessary to keep people away."

The child looked up at her. "Is he contagious?"

"No, Daniel isn't contagious."

"Then why can't I see him? Jack, Sam and Teal'c get to."

Meredith sighed silently. "It's because of the way that Daniel is sick, Danny. Doctor Fraiser worries that it will upset you. Do you want me to tell you what's wrong with him?"

Danny gave her a nod.

"Well, you see, all humans have chemicals in their brains that help control how they feel, if they're sad or happy, if they're worried or calm. Those chemicals in Daniel's brain are not working right. Sometimes, they're too high, other times too low. Because of that, Daniel isn't acting normally. Also, he's been having flashbacks and a lot of nightmares."

"Flashbacks? I had one of those. That's what Daniel told me it was called."

Meredith nodded. "That's right. But Daniel is having a lot more of them."

"About what?"

"Several different things, including what happened in Honduras."

"And he's having nightmares about it, too?"

"Yes, very bad ones. Because of these things, Doctor Fraiser doesn't think it would be a good idea for you to visit Daniel. She doesn't want you to be upset by these things, and Daniel wouldn't want you to see him when he's like that. It's not because he's going to die."

Danny sat in silent thought for a while. "How long will it be before he's not like that anymore?"

"I don't know. I went to the infirmary before coming here, and Doctor Fraiser said that Daniel is doing better. The brain chemicals are starting to go back to normal. He was sleeping, which is very good. She hopes this means that the worst is over, and Daniel will be improving. Chances are that you'll be able to see him in the next day or so." Meredith studied the boy's face closely. "Do you understand now why you haven't been allowed to see him?"

Danny nodded. "But I still wish I could."

The therapist hugged him. "I know. The moment that he's well enough, they'll let you visit."

A few minutes later, Meredith was talking alone with Jack outside the office.

"Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome. Hopefully, he'll do better now."

"I guess we should have told him the truth about what was going on with Daniel. We didn't because we thought it would upset and scare him."

"Adults feel the need to shelter children from unpleasant things, but the fact is that it's often better to be honest and not hide such things from them. Danny needed to know the details about why he wasn't being allowed to see Daniel. Simply saying that Daniel was too sick only succeeded in making Danny's imagination come up with all kinds of terrible things."

Jack nodded. "I guess this is why you get paid to do stuff like this."

Meredith smiled. "I still need to talk with Danny about what happened to Daniel in Honduras. Doctor Fraiser told me about what Danny sensed and his reaction to it. But that's something that should wait until after Daniel can be part of the conversation."

"And Daniel? Could you talk to him? I know that you're a child psychologist, but. . . ."

"If Daniel is willing to talk to me about his ordeal, I'll be more than happy to listen and help however I can, Colonel. I am sad to say that I do have some experience talking to torture victims. Those victims were minors, which changes the method of therapy, but perhaps I might be able to help a little."

"We'd appreciate that." Jack studied her closely. "You know, I don't have a very high opinion of shrinks . . . but you're all right, Doctor Woods."

Meredith's smile returned. "Thank you, Colonel O'Neill. I consider that high praise, coming from you." 


	43. Chapter 43

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Daniel's eyes blinked open and looked about. He realized that he was in one of the isolation rooms. He felt ridiculously weak, and his muscles ached. He also had one hell of a headache. What happened? Daniel tried to remember, but only got brief, confusing flashes. He had a feeling, though, that something very unpleasant had been going on. He had a vague sense of unease, a feeling like all was not well.

Daniel turned his head and saw Teal'c asleep on a cot a few feet away. Why was Teal'c here?

"Teal'c?"

The Jaffa was instantly awake. He stood and came over to Daniel.

"Daniel Jackson. It is good to see that you have awakened."

"What happened? I can't remember anything. The last thing I recall was. . . ." Daniel's voice trailed off as a memory came to him. "I was sick. I remember telling Danny to get help. It was withdrawal again, wasn't it."

"Yes."

"How bad? Did I hurt anyone?"

"You harmed no one, Daniel Jackson. You did not grow violent as you did on the previous occasion."

"Then why are you here?" Daniel asked.

"It was my turn to watch over you. It was deemed by Doctor Fraiser that you should not be left alone at any time."

"Why, if I wasn't violent?"

"Your withdrawal from the addiction to the device greatly affected you. You have been quite ill. I will allow Doctor Fraiser to explain your affliction and the reason for it."

"How long has it been?"

"It is now close to thirty-three hours," Teal'c replied.

"I feel worn out."

"That is not surprising."

"Where's Danny? Is he okay?"

"He is well. I believe that he is staying with Major Carter at the moment."

Against his will, Daniel's eyelids began to droop.

"Perhaps you should sleep some more," Teal'c suggested.

Tiredness washed over Daniel. "Yeah, I guess so," he managed to mumble before succumbing.

When Daniel awoke again, Teal'c had been replaced by Jack.

"Well, hello there," the colonel greeted with a smile. "You gonna stay conscious for a while this time?"

"Um . . . I'll try. What time is it?"

Jack glanced at his watch. "Going on six a.m. I got the third shift."

"You assigned shifts to watch me?"

"Yep. Carter got the middle shift because Danny's staying with her. We figured that was the time he'd most likely sleep all the way through."

"Jack, what happened? Teal'c wouldn't give me any details."

Jack shifted in his chair. "Fraiser would be better at explaining it than I would."

"Jack."

The grey-haired man sighed. "It's been rough, Daniel. That thing really messed up your brain chemistry. Your moods have been going all over the place, and you've been having flashbacks and nightmares. Only a couple nightmares tonight, though, which is really good."

Daniel stared up at the ceiling. "I can't remember any of that."

"Good. You're better off not remembering. It was no picnic."

Daniel's eyes went to Jack. "You didn't let Danny see me like that, did you?"

"No, he's been kept away, except for a short visit day before yesterday while you were asleep. He's not happy about it. He's really been wanting to see you. That kid loves you a whole lot, just about worships the ground you walk on, I think."

Daniel closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead with a slightly trembling hand.

"Head hurt?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, a little. I guess I can understand now why I feel like this."

"Like what?"

"Just . . . off. I'm, uh. . . ." Daniel frowned. "I'd . . . I'd really like to be alone now, if you don't mind."

"Actually, I do mind. You shouldn't be alone. Daniel, what's wrong?"

Daniel laid an arm over his eyes. "Nothing. I'm okay. I'm just going to get some more sleep, all right?" There was the tiniest of tremors in his voice.

Jack frowned. "All right. I'll be right over there on that cot, if you need anything."

Daniel nodded, then turned on his side, facing away from Jack. The colonel remained where he was for a few seconds longer, then went to the cot. He laid down, but didn't sleep, starting to worry again about his friend.

When Janet came in around an hour later, Daniel was asleep again, although he hadn't been sleeping for very long. For a good forty minutes, he had been awake, though he never moved position. It had only been the pitch of his breathing that told Jack he wasn't sleeping.

Janet examined him and checked the readings on the monitors.

"How's he doing?" Jack asked.

"Much improved, at least in regards to his vital signs. I'm going to send a new blood sample to the lab."

"He woke up twice. Once when Teal'c was here and again about an hour ago. Teal'c said that he seemed perfectly lucid the first time, though he couldn't remember anything about what happened since he first got sick. This second time, he seemed all right to begin with, then. . . ."

"Then what?"

"I don't know. He admitted that he had a headache, then his mood changed. He wanted to be left alone, was acting kind of antisocial and upset about something."

"It could be that his serotonin levels were dropping, which would cause depression. Though his brain chemistry is improving, we can still expect some fluctuations. He is still far from being all right, Colonel."

* * *

When Sam arrived at eight o'clock, Daniel was awake. Teal'c was watching over Danny.

"Hey," Sam said with a soft smile. She kissed Daniel's forehead, then brushed a hand through his hair. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay."

Sam noticed the lack of enthusiasm in his voice, but didn't comment on it. "Janet says you're doing better."

Daniel's eyes moved away from hers. "Things like this just keep happening to me, don't they."

Sam frowned at the defeated tone in his voice. "Things like this happen to all of us, Daniel. You're not alone."

"Do you realize that this is the third time I've been addicted to alien technology? I never had any desire to try drugs, not even when I was a teenager, and look at me now. An addict three times. And let's not forget about Ma'chello's little slugs making me lose my mind."

"Daniel, that's not your fault. The first two times you were addicted, you didn't know about the danger, and, this time, you were forced into the situation. As for Ma'chello, that wasn't your fault either."

"How many more times is this going to happen to me? How can I look after Danny if I can't keep myself from ending up like this?"

Sam was really getting upset now. She knew that this was because of the chemical imbalances, but it tore her apart hearing Daniel being so negative about himself.

"Daniel, Danny is the luckiest boy in the world to have you taking care of him. Nobody could do a better job than you. He adores you."

"Maybe he shouldn't. Maybe he'd be better off with you or Jack."

"That is the biggest load of crap I ever heard," said a new voice. Sam turned to see Jack coming in with a cup of coffee in his hand. He set the coffee down and went to the other side of the bed. His eyes speared into Daniel's, who tried to avoid his gaze. "I'm going to cut you some slack, Daniel, because I know this isn't really you talking, that it's the mixed up chemicals in your brain, but I'm going to make one thing clear." He began poking Daniel in the chest with his finger. "Danny is right where he should be: with you. You have been a damn good father to him, the best that he could have. Okay, so you've had some crappy things happen to you that messed up your head for a while. That doesn't make you unfit to be Danny's guardian. So you get that thought right out of your head. That little boy needs you . . . and you need him."

Daniel's eyes welled up, and he looked like he was on the verge of an emotional breakdown. He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. "I hate this. I hate this," he whispered, tears squeezing out from beneath his eyelids.

"God, Daniel. I know," Jack said roughly. He grabbed onto his friend's shoulder. "But you're going to get through it."

"We're all here for you, Daniel," Sam told him, grasping his other arm.

Daniel fought to stop the tears, fought the feelings of despair and self-doubt. He knew that these emotions were being caused by the chemical imbalances, but that didn't stop him from feeling them. He felt like he'd fallen into a deep well and couldn't get out. He needed something to hold onto, something to keep from drowning. He could feel Jack's hand on his shoulder and Sam clutching his arm, two people he loved and who loved him.

The image of Danny's face came into his mind, the little boy who, physically, was his clone, but, within his heart, was his son and one of the two most precious things in his life.

"Danny," he whispered. "Where's Danny?"

"He's with Teal'c," Jack replied. "Do you want to see him?"

Daniel did not reply, for he was no longer with them. Instead, he was standing before the wreckage of a car, staring in horror at Danny's torn and broken body.

"No!" he screamed. "Oh, God, no. It's not real! It's not real! He can't be dead. Danny!"

The expression on Jack's face hardened. "That's it. I don't give a damn what anyone says," he snarled. "I'm getting Danny." He strode out of the room and nearly ran the whole way to Teal'c's quarters.

"Daniel needs you," he said to Danny as he entered the room. Dropping his coloring book, the boy rushed up to him and grabbed his hand. He, Jack and Teal'c hurried to the infirmary.

"Colonel?" Janet asked, confused. She'd just been alerted to a dramatic increase in Daniel's vital signs.

Jack held up a finger. "Don't say it. I'm taking Danny to see Daniel, and you're not going to stop me. Daniel needs him."

Surprised, Janet just stood there for a moment as the three people continued toward the isolation room. She hurried to catch up.

As they entered the room, they saw that Sam was clutching Daniel's hand tightly, her other hand stroking his face. He was crying brokenly.

"Danny's okay, Daniel," she said. "He's okay." She noticed the new arrivals. "Look, he's right here."

"Daniel?" Danny said in a shaky voice.

Daniel turned his head and looked at him. Two pairs of blue eyes met. In the next instant, Danny was across the room and on the bed, clinging to Daniel like a leech. The archeologist held him just as tightly, his face buried against Danny's neck as he sobbed.

"Don't cry, Daniel. Please don't cry," Danny said, now also crying.

Gradually, Daniel's sobs quieted, and his body relaxed. He lifted his head and gazed intently at Danny's face, touching the boy's cheek with his fingertips.

"You're okay."

"He's fine, Daniel," Jack stated. "Danny is fine, and you will be, too."

Daniel pressed a long kiss on the child's brow, then gathered him close to his chest. He let out a soft sigh, and his eyes closed. Moments later, he was asleep.

Janet came forward and briefly looked him over, checking the readout on the monitor. "What happened?" she asked the others.

"I think he was having a hallucination," Sam replied. "He thought Danny was dead."

Janet frowned slightly. "That could have been a result of excessive dopamine stimulation."

"You mean like when he had that thing of Ma'chello's inside him?" Jack asked.

"Yes, very much like that."

"Doc, he's not going to. . . ."

"No, Colonel, it won't get that bad. The levels probably won't remain elevated for long."

Jack looked at the boy in Daniel's lax arms. "You okay, Danny?"

The child nodded. "Is he asleep?"

"Yes, he's asleep, honey," Janet answered. "Perhaps you should get off of there."

Danny tightened his grip on Daniel. "No! I'm not going!"

"Let him stay," Jack said. "I think they both need this. We'll keep an eye on them."

Janet studied her patient and the boy who was locked in an embrace with him. "All right. But if Daniel starts showing signs of restlessness, you need to remove Danny."

"Will do."

Daniel's teammates made themselves as comfortable as possible. The minutes ticked by as the archeologist slept on. Eventually, Danny fell asleep as well.

Sam went to get some coffee for herself and tea for Teal'c. She also needed a moment alone. Seeing Daniel so utterly devastated and unable to do anything to help him had torn her heart wide open. She prayed with her whole soul that this would be over soon. She didn't know how much more she could take. Sam then chastised herself. Yes, this was hard on her. It was hard on Jack, Teal'c and Danny, too, but it was Daniel who was truly suffering, and as long as he needed them to help in any way they could, she was going to be there for him, no matter how much it broke her heart.

* * *

Daniel had been asleep for seven straight hours, and Janet was pleased. Not a single nightmare had disturbed him so far. It was the first time during these very long two days that he'd slept peacefully for so long.

A couple of hours ago, the other three members of SG-1 had finally managed to tear Danny away from Daniel and taken him to get some lunch, although, as soon as the meal was finished, the boy was asking to go back. He was now sitting on the foot of the bed, his laptop before him, his gaze frequently going to Daniel just to make sure the archeologist was still okay. Teal'c was off conducting one of his hand-to-hand combat training lessons, and Sam was working on a needed project in her lab. Which left Jack alone with Danny and the sleeping archeologist, working on some paperwork.

"Uncle Jack? I think Daniel's waking up."

The colonel looked up to see Daniel's eyes begin to open. He put down the file he was holding and went to the bed.

"Daniel?" Jack inquired a little cautiously.

"Jack?"

"That's me."

A hint of fear came into Daniel's eyes. "Danny?"

"He's right there." Jack pointed at the boy.

Daniel gazed at his clone. "I saw. . . . There was a . . . a car accident."

So, that's what Daniel's hallucination had been, probably a version of the nightmare he had the night of the accident.

"No, Daniel. There was no accident, except the one that happened weeks ago. You had a hallucination, that's all."

"A hallucination."

"Yes."

"Everyone is okay?"

"Everybody's fine."

Daniel sighed in relief. "That was . . . that was bad."

"Yeah, I know." Jack turned to Danny and got the computer out of the way. "I think Daniel would like a hug, kiddo."

The boy wasted no time doing so. Daniel stroked Danny's hair, tucking the golden head under his chin.

"How do you feel?" Jack asked.

Daniel thought about it for a moment. "Drained," he finally said.

"Yeah, I bet you do. I feel a bit like that myself."

"How long has it been?"

"Two days since you collapsed."

"Did I. . . ."

"No, Daniel, you didn't hurt anyone, you didn't go psycho, you didn't even say anything mean, except about yourself. You did absolutely nothing that needs apologizing for, although you're probably going to have to do a bit of sucking up to Fraiser for not telling her beforehand that you weren't feeling well."

Daniel frowned in puzzlement. "What?"

"She figures that you must have been experiencing at least some symptoms before you collapsed."

"I just felt really tired. My hands were shaking a little," he paused, "and there was some dizziness."

"Uh huh, all of which you should have mentioned to Fraiser," Jack stated firmly.

"What difference would it have made? This would still have happened."

"Well, if you'd been in the infirmary, you wouldn't have fallen flat on your face in your office, scaring everyone half to death."

Daniel's gaze fell. "I'm sorry."

"Ah! What did I say about apologizing? You've been through a very rough two days, Daniel, and that's not even counting what you went through in Honduras. All we care about is that you get well."

Daniel didn't reply, keeping his gaze lowered.

"I'd better call Fraiser and let her know you're awake."

Janet came in a few minutes later. She smiled gently at Daniel. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I have no energy."

"Well, considering what you've been going through, that's not surprising. It'll take a while for your energy reserves to be replenished. Your adrenaline was rather low when we did the last blood tests. Anything else?"

Daniel glanced at Danny, and said nothing. Janet got the hint.

"Danny, why don't you go with Colonel O'Neill to the commissary. I need to examine Daniel, and it's better if I do that in private."

The boy's eyes went to his guardian. Daniel could see a trace of fear there. He smoothed back the boy's hair.

"It's okay, Danny. You can come back in a little while."

Jack held out his hand to the child. "Come on, kiddo. I hear they've got brownies today. I bet Sergeant Gonzalez made them especially for you. We wouldn't want to disappoint her and not eat any, would we?"

"Save me one," Daniel said even though he figured that Janet would say he couldn't have one.

After Jack and Danny were gone, Janet asked if Daniel would like the head of his bed raised, and he said yes. Once he was in a semi-seated position, the doctor sat in a chair beside him.

"Talk to me, Daniel," she encouraged gently.

The archeologist shrugged slightly. "I just feel. . . ."

When he didn't continue, Janet filled in the blank. "Do you feel sad?" Daniel didn't reply, but his face and body language told her the answer. "Did your teammates tell you about what's been going on with your brain chemistry?"

"Yeah. I know this isn't real."

"No, Daniel, it _is_ real, it's _very_ real. Just because there is no external reason for the emotions you're feeling doesn't make them any less real. Right now, your serotonin levels are a little low, which is why you feel like you do. The good news is that your bloodwork over the last few hours indicates that you're definitely getting past this. The fluctuations in your brain chemistry have been relatively minor, compared to what was going on before. I think that, by tomorrow, you'll be feeling a whole lot better." Janet studied his face. "Is there something else?"

Daniel looked like it was going to say one thing, then changed his mind. "No."

Janet laid her hand upon his arm. "Daniel, I'm your doctor, but I'm also your friend. Anything you say to me won't go any farther than this room, if you don't want it to."

Daniel sighed. "I'm just . . . ashamed."

That surprised the doctor. "Ashamed? Why?"

"I . . . I fell apart. I tried not to. I tried to tell myself that it was just the chemicals, but I felt so . . . lost. It felt like I was drowning. And then I had that hallucination of Danny, and it was so real. Sam kept telling me that Danny was okay, but I was certain he was dead. It was like when I had that thing of Ma'chello's inside me, and I saw the hallucination of that Goa'uld go into Jack. A part of me knew that what I was seeing couldn't be real, but I was still so sure that it was. But I should have known this time that it wasn't real."

Janet's grip tightened on his arm. "Daniel, you have nothing to feel ashamed about. Knowing what was causing those things doesn't mean that you could keep yourself from being affected by them. There are many physical and mental illnesses in which chemical imbalances are either the cause or one of the results, and even if someone knows they're depressed because of low serotonin levels or are seeing hallucinations because of elevated dopamine stimulation does not mean they won't be affected by the depression or will not be fooled into thinking the hallucinations are real." She searched his face. "Daniel, do you think that this in any way lowers our opinion of you? Do you believe we think that you're weak? If you do, you're wrong. You've been going through hell, and if it had been me, or Sam or the colonel in this situation instead of you, it would have been no different. We'd have suffered the same feelings of despair, anxiety and sorrow that you've been experiencing. Though I can't be sure, chances are that even Teal'c would have gone through the same thing, now that he no longer carries a symbiote."

"I just wish Danny hadn't seen it," Daniel murmured.

"Up until this afternoon, I've been keeping him away because I thought it was the right thing to do, but I was wrong. You both needed each other. Danny needed to be here with you, regardless of how sick you were, and I think you needed him, too. I _know_ you needed him this morning. I can't be sure of this; it's really just a guess, but I think Danny might be the reason why we've been seeing such a rapid and positive turnaround these past few hours."

Daniel looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"We already know that there is a psychic bond between you. You've said that bond has even been empathic on occasion. It may be that having Danny close to you has helped your brain chemistry stabilize more rapidly. Obviously, it's just a theory, and I have no way to prove it, but, if it's true, I wish I'd brought him in here sooner." Janet smiled slightly. "So, I'm recommending that Danny stay here with you for the remainder of the day and sleep with you tonight."

"What if something happens?"

"If you have another bad spell, and I feel that Danny needs to leave, then he'll be taken out. We'll keep an eye on things. Don't worry."

Daniel nodded. He wouldn't say so, but he really did want Danny to stay. But there was something he needed to know.

"Janet, those nightmares and flashbacks that I had, what were they about?" He met her eyes. "I need to know."

"I don't know what was in all of them, but they appeared to be mostly about Honduras, as well as other incidents that bore some similarity to some part of what happened there and afterwards with your addiction."

"You mean like the stuff with the Bedrosians or my addiction to the sarcophagus."

"Yes, but other things as well, such as other times when you were in extreme pain or were being physically abused."

Physically abused? Uh oh. "Uh, Janet, did I, um . . . did I babble out anything about something that . . . that happened when I was a kid?"

Janet gave him a gentle, understanding smile. "Yes, I'm afraid you did."

Daniel sighed. His head fell back against the pillow. "Crap. I suppose I'm not lucky enough to have escaped revealing that little fact to anyone except you."

"I already knew about it from your medical records, but Sam and the colonel were in the room as well."

Daniel let out a soft groan. Great. Just great.

"Daniel, I realize that it was something you didn't want them to know. I told them not to approach you about it, but if you feel like you can talk to them about it, I think you might want to consider it." The doctor gazed at him piercingly. "Now, about that brownie. . . ."

Daniel sighed. "I know. I can't have one."

"On the contrary. I'm going to call the commissary and make sure they save at least two or three for you."

Daniel gaped at her. "W-what?"

"It's chocolate, Daniel, and any chocolate lover knows that it's a mood-lifter. Yes, it's a rather unorthodox prescription for a doctor to give," Janet smiled, her eyes twinkling, "but I won't tell the AMA if you don't."

For the first time in days, Janet got the pleasure of seeing Daniel smile. It was a small smile, but it was there nonetheless.

"Deal," he said quietly.

Daniel got his brownies, and he enjoyed every one of them – and, yes, they did make him feel better. So did his teammates and Danny, who all gathered in his room and spent hours joking and talking about happy things. Teal'c even told a couple of Jaffa jokes, and, surprisingly, they were actually funny.

As Daniel closed his eyes that night, Danny's little body curled tight against him and Sam sleeping on a cot nearby, he realized that Janet had been right. Yes, his friends had witnessed his emotional turmoil and devastation, but they were still his friends, and nothing would break that bond.


	44. Chapter 44

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

The results of the blood tests taken the next morning showed that Daniel's brain chemistry was definitely going back to normal, though his serotonin levels were still on the low side.

He was moved out of the isolation room and to a private room. He'd have preferred to be out of the infirmary completely, but he didn't complain. He knew that he still had a little way to go. He also feared that he'd have a relapse.

A play area had been set up for Danny in the room, which pleased him. Any time someone even hinted that he leave Daniel's company, he resisted, which worried the archeologist. Until this thing happened, Danny had gotten over the need to be near Daniel, and he now feared that some of the progress Danny had made had been reversed.

Janet agreed to allow Daniel to do some work, so his computer and some files had been brought in. He was in the midst of a translation when they got an unexpected visit from Meredith.

"Hello, you two," she greeted with a smile. "Daniel, it's good to see you looking so well. How are you feeling?"

"A lot better."

"That's great." Janet had filled Meredith in on Daniel's condition, so she knew that he was much improved, though still not one hundred percent. "And how about you, Danny?"

"I'm okay."

"Any new nightmares?"

"No, not now."

"But you were having some before?"

The child nodded.

"When was that?"

"When Daniel was kidnapped, and when he was sick and nobody would let me be with him."

The second part of that sentence was news to Daniel. No one had told him that Danny had nightmares on the nights he was kept away from Daniel.

"Yes, I bet you were really worried about him," Meredith said. "I understand that, when the men who had Daniel hurt him, you could sense it. That must have been frightening."

Danny's gaze fell to the floor. "I thought he was going to die."

"But he didn't, did he. They did hurt him, and he did get very sick afterwards, but he didn't die." Meredith sat on a chair beside the boy. "I was told that you've been spending most of your time here with him, that you don't want to leave. Is that right?"

Danny nodded, not looking at her.

"Can you tell me why?"

"Because I'm afraid something will happen to him," Danny whispered.

"You're afraid that, if you leave him, something will happen while you're gone?"

The child nodded again.

Meredith looked at Daniel, seeing the sadness on his face. She turned back to Danny.

"I do understand why you feel that way, Danny. Daniel went away, and he got kidnapped and hurt, then, after he came back, he got sick, and you weren't allowed to be with him. But, Danny, nothing bad will happen to Daniel just because you're not with him. Life doesn't work that way. If you left this room, he would still be all right. I know that you've left for a short while a few times. He was fine when you came back, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't a long time."

Meredith studied the boy for a moment. She made a decision that she knew was going to be hard on the child, but it was something that needed to be done sooner or later. Yes, this fear of leaving Daniel for any length of time would fade in time, but, for the sake of Danny – and Daniel – it would be far better to help speed up the process.

"Okay, Danny. I know you're not going to like this, but I'm going to ask you to leave this room for the rest of the day."

Danny's face filled with fear. "No! I don't want to!"

"I'm sorry, Danny, but I need to insist."

The boy's eyes went to Daniel. "Please don't make me leave, Daniel. Please."

The torment was clear on the archeologist's face. He didn't want to upset the boy, but if this was what Meredith thought Danny needed, he had to go along with it.

"Danny, I'll be all right. I won't be leaving this room, so I won't get hurt, and I won't get sick again. It'll be okay."

"Danny, what I'll let you do is call Daniel on the phone every two hours to check up on him," Meredith said. "Tonight, you can come back and sleep in here. It's afternoon now, so we're only talking about a few hours. That's all."

Tears were pooling in the child's eyes. "I don't want to go," he whispered.

"I'm sorry, Danny, but I need to show you that something bad won't happen to Daniel just because you're gone."

"You can stay with Jack, Sam or Teal'c, Danny," Daniel said, feeling awful.

A couple of calls were made. Jack came a short while later. Danny was still crying, and, when Jack attempted to take his hand, the boy ran to Daniel and threw himself into the man's arms. Daniel held him tight.

"Shh. Danny, it's all right," Daniel murmured soothingly. "It's going to be fine. I'll be waiting for your call in two hours."

Jack came forward. He met Daniel's eyes for a long moment, seeing how much this was hurting the younger man.

"Come on, Danny. Let's go," the colonel said to the boy. "It's a nice day outside, so I thought we'd play a little catch on the mountaintop."

Now very subdued, the boy released Daniel and went with Jack.

"I'm sorry, Daniel," Meredith said after the door closed behind the pair. "I know this was hard on both of you, but I think it's for the best. Danny will be scared for a while, but I think after the second or third call, he'll calm down. We could have waited a few days to do this, but I think a more aggressive approach is better this time. Danny's a lot stronger psychologically than he used to be. He can handle this."

Daniel just nodded, still upset. Meredith moved the chair over to his bed and sat back down. She knew that, because of the lingering problems with his brain chemistry, Daniel's emotional state was more fragile than normal, and she had to wonder if this was a good time to talk with him about his ordeal. On the other hand, perhaps he'd be more likely to open up about it now than he would in a few days. She knew Daniel well enough to suspect that, once he was completely well, he'd begin to build walls around the hurt inside and would convince himself that he was fine. This might be the best chance she'd have to get her foot in the door and begin helping him deal with what happened rather than just locking it up inside.

"Do you feel up to talking?" she asked gently. "I know what you've gone through over the past week. I can only imagine how hard it's been. If you feel like you could talk about it, I'd like to listen. No pressure. If you really don't want to talk now, that's all right. I'll understand."

Daniel was silent for a long time, long enough that Meredith thought he wasn't going to say anything.

"I don't remember most of the time I was sick," he said in a low voice. "From what I understand, I guess that's a good thing. I apparently had a lot of flashbacks and nightmares about Honduras and . . . some other things. You probably already know that."

Meredith nodded. "Yes, I do. I also know the details of what happened in Honduras. I'm so sorry that happened to you, Daniel. I can't say that I understand how you feel since I've never been through anything like that, but I can imagine how difficult it must have been."

"It's not the first time I've been tortured. It's just that this was . . . different."

"In what way?"

"The other time it happened was on an off-world mission. It really wasn't so bad. The way they harmed Sam and Jack bothered me more than what they did to me. I knew I couldn't tell the Bedrosians what they wanted to know. Teal'c's life depended on it. Just that knowledge made it easier to take. As long as Teal'c stayed safe, it would be okay if they shocked me with that thing a dozen times. They ended up only doing it twice."

"And this time?"

Daniel didn't reply for several seconds. "I knew that it could be dangerous for Rafael and the others to know what the device was, though I didn't really think they'd try to turn it on. There was also the matter of national security and the secrecy of the program."

"But the life of someone you cared about did not hinge on you remaining silent," Meredith said, understanding the difference.

"Yeah. In fact, I knew that, if I didn't talk, they'd start torturing Bill, so _not_ talking meant that someone else was going to get hurt."

"That must have been hard on you, knowing that. It must have made it harder to keep silent."

"There was a moment after I'd been shocked maybe five or six times when I wondered if it would be so bad to tell them what the device was. I wouldn't have to say everything, just that it was possibly the source of the Fountain of Youth myth. I could have lied, said that in order to turn it on, a key was needed, and that I was still looking for it. Something like that."

"But you didn't talk."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I knew that I couldn't. If I was wrong, if Rafael turned the device on or, worse, if he sold it to someone who turned it on in a populated area, it would be my fault. It could have harmed a lot of people, turned them into what I saw Rafael and his men become, what _I_ became when I was addicted to the sarcophagus. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let innocent people go through what I did. And if that meant not talking, then I wouldn't talk, no matter what."

Meredith nodded. Of course it was the thought of the harm that could come to others rather than any thoughts of the program's secrecy or national security that gave Daniel the strength to withstand the torture. He was not a soldier, but he was a man who always put the welfare of others above his own.

"But then, Doctor Lee talked," she said.

Daniel's gaze fell to his hands.

"Did that anger you? You endured all that suffering to prevent something from happening only to have Doctor Lee tell them what you went through hell to hide."

"Bill hasn't gone through the things I have. He hasn't been . . . toughened up. I don't blame him for not being able to withstand what they did to him. Before I joined the program, I might not have either."

"Yes, but not blaming him for lacking the strength to bear it is one thing, being angry because your suffering ended up being for nothing is something else. On top of that, because Doctor Lee _did_ talk, you were exposed to that device and have had to endure going through another withdrawal."

Daniel fell silent again. "I guess . . . I guess I was a little angry," he admitted very quietly.

Meredith searched his face. "You're ashamed that you felt that way." Daniel didn't reply, but it was pretty obvious she was right. "Daniel, feeling a certain amount of anger toward Bill is perfectly natural. I do, however, know that you will never hold this against him. Am I right?"

"How can I hold it against him that he saved himself from going through what I did? I wouldn't have wanted him to go through that. If he hadn't talked, they'd have kept using the battery on him. So, maybe it was better that he did talk. It made things easier on him."

"Better that you be the one who suffers than someone else."

Daniel merely shrugged, his eyes still not meeting hers.

Meredith gazed at him. "Do you feel good that you didn't talk?"

That made Daniel look at her. "What do you mean?"

"It would seem to me that knowing they couldn't break you would make you feel pretty good about yourself."

"Um . . . no, not really."

"Why is that?"

"I don't know. I just don't see it like that."

"Yet you have every reason to feel that way. You were faced with a tremendous challenge to your strength and willpower, and you won."

Daniel gave a small, humorless laugh. "I don't really feel like I won anything."

"No, but it was a victory, Daniel. Most people go through their whole lives never knowing how much they could truly endure, how strong they really are. Your strength has been tested many times during these years you've been in the program, and I'm betting that you always passed the test. Now, you've been tested again, and you yet again made it through. You have every right to feel good about that. You deserve to feel good about it."

Daniel thought about what she was saying. "I guess you're right. I just don't look at it that way. I just did what I knew I had to."

Meredith nodded again. Daniel was a brilliant, talented, handsome man who had every reason to possess a healthy ego and self-image, yet it was pretty clear that he didn't. His years in the foster care system could be partly to blame for that. It could be that, during those years, he was never given the ego boosts he needed to build self-esteem and self-confidence. He had no loving parents to tell him how proud they were of him, to be there cheering during his triumphs and encouraging him after his failures. It was a sad fact for many foster children.

Meredith saw the tiredness in Daniel's eyes. Though there was much more that needed to be talked about, now was not the time.

"I should let you get some rest. I'm glad that you felt you could talk to me about this, Daniel. Perhaps we could talk some more after you're completely over the withdrawal."

"What about Danny? I'm really worried about him. This whole thing has been almost as hard on him as it has been on me."

"Yes, it has, but I think, in time, he'll get past it, especially after we've overcome this first big hurdle. Once he loses his fear of leaving your presence, it'll all be downhill from there. Tomorrow, it would be best if Danny remains away from you for at least half the day with just one phone call. Once you return home, don't let him sleep with you. He needs to sleep in his own bed. After a couple of days, perhaps you can arrange for him to spend the night with someone else."

"All right. I just hate seeing him so upset."

"I know, Daniel, but, in the end, this will be the best thing for him. If you intend to enroll him in school, he needs to be comfortable about being away from you for the day."

"Yeah, school. I'm afraid that I haven't done much in that regard. I wanted to wait until after I saw how he did in his therapy before making any decisions. Then all this happened and. . . ." Daniel sighed. "Public school starts in only two weeks, and I know that some private schools have already started."

"What were your thoughts about his schooling?"

"Well, considering his level of intelligence, he'd probably be better off in a private school that has a program for gifted children. I did do some research a while back, and there's one in Colorado Springs that sounds good. I would need to take Danny there so that he can be interviewed and tested. Whether or not he could get in at such short notice is something I don't know."

"Considering how bright Danny is, I don't think there would be a big problem. Have you talked to Danny about this?"

"No. I'm pretty sure he's not going to be thrilled about going to school. He'd much prefer having me and Sam tutor him. Then he could spend his days here. Obviously, that's not an option. Neither one of us could devote the time to his education that he deserves."

Meredith got to her feet. "I should let you get some rest. Once you're out of the infirmary and feel up to it, I'll come back and talk with Danny about everything that's happened."

"Okay. Um, Meredith? Thank you for understanding. You, uh . . . won't tell anyone what we talked about, will you? I'd rather that the others didn't know what I said."

"No, Daniel, I won't tell anyone. This is between you and me."

"Thanks."

"And, Daniel? Call me any time you'd like to talk. I mean that."

Once Meredith was gone, Daniel put aside his work and lowered the bed to a horizontal position. He attempted to get some sleep, but, after lying there for twenty minutes without any luck, he gave up and sat back up. He hadn't told anyone that he'd had a nightmare last night about the events in Honduras, letting everyone believe that he'd slept peacefully through the night, although "peacefully" was a relative term. Though the bruises were no longer a problem, the burns and gunshot wound sometimes made getting to sleep and staying that way a challenge. The nightmares made it all the harder. Now, though he was definitely tired, he couldn't relax because he was afraid that he'd have another nightmare, and he didn't want anyone to know that he was still having a problem with them.

Daniel got back to work, pushing through his tiredness. The call from Danny came exactly when he was expecting it.

"Hey, Danny. Did you have fun playing catch with Jack?"

"Kind of. I wish you were with us."

"Well, after I'm all better, perhaps we can all go to the park or something. That would be nice. I'll sure be ready for some fresh air after being cooped up in the mountain so long."

"Can I come back now?"

Daniel was really tempted to give in and say yes, but he didn't. "No, Danny, not yet, not until it's bedtime. I'm going to be fine. I'm just sitting here, working. You go and have more fun with Jack. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Daniel said goodbye and hung up. Sam came to visit a few minutes later.

She gave Daniel a bright smile. "Hey, are you feeling better?" She came forward and gave him a kiss, studying his face. She'd come to visit him this morning and noticed that he was still a little down in the dumps, though he'd tried to hide it.

"Yeah, a bit."

"Janet says that your brain chemistry is looking good. She thinks that she might be able to release you tomorrow, although she wants you to stay on base for at least one more day, just to be in the safe side."

"That's good. I hate being cooped up in the infirmary. I'd be going nuts, if Janet hadn't allowed me to get some work done."

Sam sat on the edge of the bed. "I understand that Meredith was here earlier."

"Yes. She's trying to get Danny over his need to stay near me. That's why he's not here now. Meredith wants him to stay away until tonight."

Sam nodded. "Did . . . she talk to you about . . . you know?"

"Uh, yeah, a little."

"That's good." Sam did not push Daniel for any details. Just knowing that he had talked to someone about his ordeal was enough. Janet had advised that they tread carefully about what happened to him, especially while he was still recovering from the withdrawal.

Sam took his hand. "I've been missing you. It's lonely sleeping alone."

"I miss you, too."

Sam touched his right thigh. "How's your leg doing?"

"Good. Still hurts a bit. I'll be glad when I don't need those crutches anymore."

"Just don't push yourself too hard, Daniel."

"I won't."

Sam checked her watch. "I wish I could stay longer, but I'm way behind on several projects. I was thinking that we could have dinner together."

Daniel smiled. "Sure, that would be great."

Sam gave him another kiss, then got up. "I'll see you later." She started for the door, then turned around, smiling. "Oh, and, by the way, I love you."

Daniel's smile grew. "Well, that's a coincidence. I love you, too."

"Really? Fancy that." With a wave, Sam left the room.

Feeling a bit better, Daniel returned his attention to work.

By the time Danny made his third phone call to Daniel, he seemed to be doing a lot better. When Jack brought him back to the room at a little before nine, the boy gave Daniel a hug, but didn't cling to him or appear to be upset.

"So, did you enjoy your afternoon and evening with Jack?" Daniel asked him.

"Oh, I wasn't with Jack the whole time. I was with Grandpa George for a while and with Teal'c and Sergeant Harriman, too."

"As much as I would have liked to goof off with Danny the whole time, I had to get at least some work done and earn the money the U.S. military pays me," Jack explained.

"Ah." Daniel returned his gaze to Danny. "Well, we'll have to see who can spend some time with you tomorrow."

The boy frowned. "I can't stay with you?"

"You can later in the afternoon, but Meredith wants you to spend half the day away from me."

"But I get to call every two hours, right?"

"Um, no, just one call."

Danny's frown deepened. "How come?"

"She thinks it's for the best, Danny."

"But what if something happens?"

Daniel cupped the boy's cheek. "Nothing's going to happen, Danny. I'm hoping that I'll be let out of the infirmary tomorrow. If I am, I'll probably be in my office most of the day."

A touch of fear glimmered in the child's eyes. "But it was in your office that you got sick."

"It was there that I passed out, but I was sick before then, Danny. I just didn't realize it."

"But what if you get sick again? If I'm not there, nobody will know."

"How about if Sam calls me every now and then to make sure I'm okay? Would that be all right?"

Danny thought about that for a while. "I guess so, but she has to promise to call you."

Jack ruffled the boy's hair. "How about if I make it an order, kiddo? Then she has to call or she'll be disobeying orders."

"Okay."

Daniel smiled. "It's settled, then. Jack can come pick you up for breakfast." He looked up at the colonel. "Would that be all right?"

"Sure. I'll make arrangements for babysitting duty. It shouldn't be a problem. I think Sergeant Gonzalez is off-duty tomorrow. If she doesn't have other plans, she'd probably love to take Danny to the park or something."

* * *

Daniel had another nightmare that night, which brought him violently out of sleep. In the dream, Rafael was resurrected and came toward Daniel, machete in hand, again saying that he was going to skin Daniel alive. Jack tried to protect Daniel, but Chalo showed up and killed him.

Daniel lay still as his racing heart gradually slowed. He looked over at Danny, who lay sprawled beside him, sound asleep, then threw back the covers and got up, having no desire at the moment to go back to sleep. Not wanting to alert anyone to the fact that he was awake, he did not turn on a light. He used the bathroom, then got his laptop and settled in one of the chairs.

Daniel worked for the next three hours, until tiredness began dragging him down. He then shut off the computer and crawled back under the covers, finding it necessary to move Danny first, because the boy had taken over the entire mattress. After a few minutes, sleep returned.

Thankfully, Daniel did not have another nightmare. When Jack came to get Danny for breakfast, the archeologist pretending that everything was fine.

It turned out that Marie Gonzalez loved the idea of taking Danny out for the morning and eagerly volunteered to be his babysitter. Daniel talked with her on the phone, explaining Danny's concern about him. The sergeant said she understood and would do her best to distract the boy and would let him make a call to Daniel at eleven o'clock.

After Danny left with Marie, Janet drew some blood from Daniel, examining his injuries as they waited for the test results. Some blood was drawn.

"The burns are healing very well," the doctor said. "Of course, it helps that you got that big jump-start on the process."

"All things considered, I'd have preferred taking longer to heal."

Janet looked at him sympathetically. "Yes, I imagine you would." She examined his bullet wound. "This looked good, too. If your tests come back normal, I'm going to have you begin doing some exercises with this leg tomorrow. Nothing strenuous at first, though. And I think you can trade in the crutches for a cane. That should make it easier for you to get around." She studied his face. "How are you sleeping?"

"So so," Daniel replied, giving nothing away. "It's sometimes tough to get comfortable."

"Do you need some help? I can give you a different pain medication, one that will help you sleep."

"I'd rather not. I usually end up feeling dopey all morning."

"Well, let me know if you change your mind. I'll go get that cane for you." Janet walked off for a minute and came back with the cane. "There you go."

"Thanks. This will definitely be better."

After seeing that Daniel's test results were normal Janet released him from the infirmary and cleared him for light duty.

Happy to get out of the infirmary, Daniel gathered up his and Danny's things, with some help from an airman, and went to his office. He tried to get some work done, but a thought kept nagging at him. Finally, he called Sam.

"Hey there," she said. "Aren't _I_ supposed to be calling _you_?"

"Yeah, but, uh . . . there's something we need to talk about. Could you and Jack come to my office?"

"Sure. Is something wrong, Daniel?"

"I'll explain when you get here."

Jack and Sam arrived a few minutes later. Daniel asked them to sit down.

"What's up?" Jack asked.

"I know that you know about what happened to me when I was a kid, the, um . . . abuse."

Jack and Sam shared a glance.

"We weren't going to say anything about it, Daniel," Sam said.

"I know. I just . . . I just wanted you to know that it wasn't as bad as you may be thinking. He knocked me around a bit, gave me a few bruises."

"Gave you a concussion," Jack added in a taunt voice.

Daniel saw the anger glittering in Jack's dark eyes. "That was the worst time, the only time he hit me that hard. He'd just lost his job, and—"

"Don't you dare make excuses for him," Jack snapped. "There is no excuse, _no_ excuse for abusing a child. I don't care how tough life is. You don't hit your wife, and you don't hit your children, even if they aren't really yours."

Daniel's gaze fell to his lap. "I know that, Jack. I wasn't making excuses."

"Who was he?"

Daniel lifted his gaze back to Jack.

"You spoke the name Schubert."

"Why do you want to know, Jack? Are you going to go track him down and beat him up?"

"No, I'm not going to beat him up," Jack replied, "but I want to know where he is, if he hit any other kids after what he did to you."

"They wouldn't have let him and his wife foster any more kids, Jack. They knew what he'd done. He was arrested for it."

"And what about his own kids?"

"Mrs. Schubert couldn't have children. That's one of the reasons why they became foster parents, that and the money it brought in."

The two men stared at each other for a tense moment.

"I can find out on my own, you know," Jack finally said.

Daniel sighed explosively. "Fine! His first name was Harold. His wife's name was Nancy. I can't tell you the address where we lived. I don't remember. It was in Manhattan, that's all I know." Daniel's voice began rising in anger and pain. "You want me to draw a picture of him, Jack? I still remember what his face looked like as he was looming over me. Would you like a description of the ring that cut my cheek once? How about the belt with the fancy silver buckle that he tied me to my bed with after I interrupted him and his wife—"

Daniel's voice broke off. He abruptly struggled to his feet, grabbed his cane, and left the room.

"Daniel!" Sam called out, jumping to her feet.

Too late, Jack realized that he'd made a mistake. Dammit. Janet had told them not to make a big deal out of this, and here he goes pushing Daniel for the man's identity.

"Sir. . . ." Sam began. He looked at her and saw in her eyes that she was blaming him for what just happened.

"Don't say it, Carter. I already know. This is my fault, and I'll fix it."

Jack went in search of Daniel. You wouldn't think that a guy with a bad leg could move so fast, but, apparently, Daniel had been very motived to get away as fast as possible.

Jack tracked the archeologist to the top of the mountain. He was sitting on a log, rubbing his injured leg, which was extended out straight. Great. On top of everything else, Jack had made Daniel put a strain on his leg. If Janet found out, she would not be amused by Jack's idiocy. In fact, he'd be lucky if he emerged from the infirmary with his skin still intact.

Daniel stilled as he became aware of Jack's present. The colonel sat on the log beside him.

"I'm sorry," Jack said after a pause. "I shouldn't have pushed, and I'm . . . I'm sorry."

"I hadn't thought about him in years," Daniel murmured, staring at the ground. "I convinced myself that what he did to me didn't matter. It didn't affect who I was. He was just . . . just an angry drunk who took his anger out on me and probably the foster kids that came before me."

Jack rested his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "You're wrong, Daniel. It _did_ matter. It still does."

Daniel's voice wavered slightly. "I-I could never hit Danny. I don't think that I could even spank him. Just thinking about it would make me remember what it felt like to. . . ."

Jack's hand tightened on Daniel's shoulder. "I know, Daniel."

Jack gazed at his best friend for a long moment, seeing the hunched posture, the lowered gaze. And then he did something that he had not done in many years. He pulled Daniel into an embrace and just held him. Daniel resisted at first, then relaxed, closing his eyes.

The hug lasted several seconds. When the two men parted, they avoided looking directly into each other's eyes.

"Come on. We need to get you back inside and that leg elevated or something," Jack said, standing up. "If you made it worse with your mad dash up here and Fraiser finds out, it's not gonna be pretty."

"She'll kill me."

"No, she'll kill _me_. You she'll just scold out."

Daniel thought about it, then nodded. "You're right. You're the one she'll go after."

"Gee, thanks for the support, Daniel." Jack's manner changed. "Daniel, there's just one thing I need to know, and I swear that I'll never ask anything else about what that guy did to you." He met his best friend's eyes. "When he tied you to the bed, did he. . . ." Jack found that he couldn't say the words out loud.

"No, he never touched me like that," Daniel replied, filling Jack with immense relief. "He didn't even hit me that time. He just tied me to the headboard, then went back to his wife. After he was asleep, she came and untied me and told me to be extra careful the next time I got out of bed during the night."

Jack nodded. "Okay."

The colonel helped the archeologist to his feet, and the two friends headed back down to the base entrance. 


	45. Chapter 45

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Sam was still in Daniel's office when he and Jack arrived. She immediately got up and gave Daniel a hug.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"It's okay, Sam."

Jack pulled out Daniel's chair. "Come over here and get off your feet." He didn't fail to notice the wince as Daniel did so. It made Jack feel even worse. "You need a pain pill?"

Daniel looked at his watch. "Yeah, I guess it is time for one." He shook out a pill and swallowed it with some water Sam got him.

She studied his face closely. "You look tired, Daniel."

"I'm okay. The burns and gunshot wound just make it tough to sleep sometimes."

"Maybe you should lie down," Jack said.

"No, I don't want to be asleep when Danny calls."

"Yeah, well, what you should really be doing is taking several days off."

"I already had this discussion with Janet. I've got too much work to do. If I lose any more time, it'll be that much more for me to do when I get back. Besides—" Daniel's voice cut off.

"Besides what?"

"Nothing. I'd just rather work than sit at home, watching TV." What he'd kept himself from saying was that work helped keep his mind off what happened.

After making sure that Daniel didn't need anything else, Sam and Jack left. As they headed for the elevator, Jack glanced at the major.

"So, you think you'd be able to find that guy if you did a computer search?" he asked.

"Colonel, I really think we should just let it be. All bringing it up did was upset Daniel."

"Okay, so we don't tell him. I'm not gonna do anything to the guy, Carter. I just want to take a look into his history, see what he's up to nowadays."

Sam sighed. "I suppose I could do some digging. The fact that he was arrested for child abuse will make it easier. All I'd have to do is search the Manhattan police records. I'll see what I can find, sir."

* * *

The call from Danny came promptly at eleven.

"How are you enjoying your morning with Sergeant Gonzalez?" Daniel asked.

"Okay. We went to the mall, and she bought me a whole bunch of stuff."

Daniel's eyebrows rose. "She did? What kind of stuff?"

"Some books because she knows I like them, but also some toys and games."

"Really? Did you say thank you?"

"Of course I did," Danny replied, as if that was a given.

Daniel smiled. Apparently, Marie had gotten it into her head to spoil Danny while she had the chance. He'd have to thank her.

"We're at the park now," Danny told hm. "We're going to have hotdogs for lunch. Oh, and she has a cool dog named Barkler. He's at the park with us."

"That sounds like fun. You'll have to tell me all about your day when you come back."

"Are you okay? You're not sick again?"

"Nope, I'm fine, Danny, just really busy with work. I've got a lot of catching up to do."

"You shouldn't be working so hard, not since you're just getting over being sick."

Daniel almost laughed at the note of disapproval in the boy's voice. "I'll keep that in mind."

"I wish you could be here, too."

"I know. So do I. But we'll go do something fun together soon. I promise."

Daniel ended the call a short while later. Danny sounded like he was doing a lot better, though it was obvious that he was still worried about Daniel.

When Danny was brought back to the SGC that afternoon, he greeted Daniel with a long hug.

"You're okay?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm just fine, Danny, not even a little sick. And look at this." Daniel held up the cane. "No more crutches." He turned to Marie Gonzalez. "Thanks for watching him, Marie."

"Oh, it was my pleasure, Doctor Jackson. Danny is a wonderful boy."

"It's Daniel, Marie, and I understand that you bought a few things for him."

The boy ran over to the bag the woman was holding and brought it over to Daniel. He began pulling things out one by one and showed them to the archeologist, explaining what each thing was. Daniel thanked Marie for her generosity.

The woman looked at her watch. "Well, I need to get going. I've got a date tonight, and I have to do a bit of shopping."

Danny came over and gave her a hug, thanking her again for the gifts. She ruffled his hair and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"If you ever need a babysitter again, let me know," she said to the archeologist.

"I will."

Daniel went to the infirmary for another blood test a few hours later. The results came back normal again.

"Well, it looks like you're past the withdrawal, Daniel," Janet said, pleased. "I was going to keep you here another night, but I think it will be safe for you to go home. If you notice anything, tremors, mood shifts, things like that, I want you to come back in immediately." She gave him a hard look. "No more ignoring symptoms, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You can't drive yet because of that leg, so you'll have to arrange for someone to take you home and pick you up in the morning. What's your food situation like? Do you need someone to go shopping for you?"

"No, I think we'll be okay for a few days. Breakfast and lunch won't be a problem, and I have some TV dinners in the freezer, which is probably all I'd be able to fix anyway until my leg is better."

"I've arranged for you to begin your exercises tomorrow morning. There will be a physical therapist with you to make sure you don't overdo it." Janet smiled at him. "Okay, I think I'm done with you." She gave him one of her stern doctor looks. "Don't push yourself too much, Daniel. You've been through a terrible ordeal, and you need to allow yourself time to heal . . . in all ways."

Daniel met her eyes, understanding the meaning of her words. "I know, Janet. I'll be okay."

* * *

Daniel had hoped that being at home, away from the SGC and in the comfort of his own bed, there would be no nightmares. He was wrong. At three a.m. he awoke with a gasp, the dream images still gripping his mind. When he attempted to move, he discovered that he couldn't. His entire body was paralyzed. He could swear that he still felt the plastic ties binding his arms, still see the angry face of Rafael bending over him. Panic flooding his mind, Daniel darted his gaze about the room. He told himself that he was at home, that Rafael wasn't there, but he could still hear the man's voice.

_'It's not real,'_ he told himself over and over again.

The voice finally faded away, but the paralysis remained, chaining him to the bed. For what felt like eternity, he lay there, unable to move. Then, suddenly, the paralysis ended. Daniel stumbled out of the bed. He went into the kitchen and got a glass of water, standing at the sink until his body had completely calmed. Then he looked in on Danny, seeing that the boy was sleeping soundly.

Knowing that there was no way in hell he was going back to sleep, Daniel fixed some coffee, got a book, and sat on the sofa. He couldn't concentrate on the words, however, and ended up staring out the living room window as the hours passed and the sky gradually lightened.

At the time he'd normally be getting up, Daniel heard his alarm clock go off. He went into the bedroom and turned it off, then took his shower and got ready for work.

A couple more cups of coffee with breakfast chased away the sleepiness, and he and Danny were ready when an airman came to pick them up.

All during his physical therapy that morning, Daniel was suffering through an internal struggle about whether or not he should tell Janet what happened. If he told her, he'd have to admit that he'd been having nightmares every night, but, if he didn't tell her, and this was something that needed treatment, he could be risking his health.

Daniel decided that, first, he'd do a little research online. It did not take long to discover what had happened to him: sleep paralysis, a condition characterized by temporary paralysis of the body shortly after waking up from REM sleep. It was sometimes accompanied by hypnagogic hallucinations, which explained what he'd thought he felt, heard and saw.

Having a name and explanation for what happened made Daniel feel a lot better. Sleep paralysis was not dangerous, and, judging by what he read, there was a good chance that it wouldn't happen again. But, if it did, he now knew what it was and wouldn't let it freak him out. There was also no reason to tell Janet.

By the afternoon, Daniel was fighting sleep and guzzling down enough coffee to give an elephant insomnia.

"Are you tired?" Danny asked right in the middle of one of Daniel's yawns.

"Um . . . yeah, a bit. I woke up too early and couldn't get back to sleep. I'll probably be going to bed early tonight."

Danny looked at him worriedly. "Were you sick?"

"No, I wasn't sick, Danny. Things like this happen sometimes. Don't worry. I'll be fine. Um, Danny, I didn't mention this before, but Meredith thinks that you should spend a night with someone else for one day. I think tonight might be a good day to do that."

"But I want to stay with you. Why do I have to sleep someplace else?"

"It's part of the therapy, Danny, like having to be away from me for half the day. You always had fun sleeping over at Jack's. I could ask if you can stay with him tonight."

Danny pouted. "I don't want to."

"How about if we both go over there this evening? We can have dinner with Jack, watch a movie, then you can sleep over. In the morning, you and Jack can come pick me up. That won't be so bad, will it?"

Danny didn't look convinced, but did not voice any more objections. Daniel talked to Jack, who said that would be great with him.

They all enjoyed the evening together, which consisted of dinner and a movie. At Danny's bedtime, Daniel turned to the boy.

"So, is it okay if you stay here tonight? We need to do this sooner or later, Danny."

"Come on, kiddo," Jack encouraged. "We'll go to IHOP for breakfast, and you can have one of those fruit-covered waffles that you love so much."

"Okay," Danny finally said, not really happy about it, but knowing it was what Daniel wanted.

The boy got ready for bed, and Daniel accompanied him to the guest room.

"Are you leaving now?" Danny asked him.

"Not quite yet. I'll probably talk with Jack for a little while. I won't leave until you're asleep, all right?"

"All right."

After Danny was in bed, Daniel gave him a kiss, then went out into the living room.

"So, how's he been doing?" Jack asked as the archeologist sat on the couch.

"All right. He's still a little resistant to being away from me for long periods of time, as you could see, but he is improving. It wasn't easy doing what Meredith told me to, but she was right. Danny needed to be made to see that something bad wouldn't happen to me just because he wasn't there."

Jack nodded. His gaze sharpened. "And how about you?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"I'm fine."

"Uh huh. You know, Daniel, it's all right if you aren't fine. Nobody expects you to be fine . . . except maybe for you. Sometimes, you expect too much of yourself. You're human, just like the rest of us, and anyone who went through what you did could have some problems afterwards. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'll be all right, Jack, though I admit that the next time I have to change the battery in my car, I'll be a lot more leery of the thing." The joke fell flat, and Daniel sighed, wearily closing his eyes.

Jack stared at him. His instincts were telling him that Daniel was hiding something, but it was clear that the man was not willing to talk about it. Daniel could give stubborn lessons to a mule.

The colonel got to his feet. "Want a beer?"

"Um, yeah. Thanks."

Jack went into the kitchen and got two cold ones from the fridge, but, when he brought them back out to the living room, he found Daniel asleep, his head tilted back against the backrest, mouth slightly open.

With a little smile and a shake of his head, Jack got himself a book and settled in the recliner with his beer. Two hours later, Daniel was still sound asleep.

"Well, it looks like you're both going to be spending the night, Danny Boy," Jack murmured. He went to the linen closet and got a blanket and pillow, then managed to get Daniel in a horizontal position without waking him up. After removing Daniel's shoes, Jack covered him with the blanket. Then the colonel headed off to bed.

The clock read 2:34 when Jack was aroused from sleep by a noise. He lay listening for a moment and heard a low moan from the living room. He got up to investigate. The sound had come from Daniel, who was clearly in the throes of a nightmare. Jack instantly knew that this was not an isolated occurrence.

He was about to awaken Daniel when the dream appeared to reach its peak, and the archeologist rose out of sleep, his terror-filled eyes reminding Jack of the things he'd seen buddies in the service go through after a rough tour of duty.

Daniel saw Jack and quickly sat up, struggling with the tangled blanket.

"How often?" Jack asked.

Daniel rubbed his face. "What?"

"How often are you having nightmares? And don't lie to me."

Daniel sighed. "One or two a night."

"Honduras?"

"Yeah, but different . . . worse."

Jack didn't want to think about what would be worse than what actually happened. It would have to be pretty nasty.

Jack took a seat. He could do this one of two ways. One was to rake Daniel over the coals for trying to hide this from everyone. He decided that the other way might work better.

"After that time I was captured and held captive by the Iraqis, I had nightmares," he said, "and we're talking about real doozies, everything from the removal of body parts to burning my eyes out with hot pokers. Obviously, none of those things actually happened, but my subconscious sure did make it seem real. The thing is, though, that all it conjured up was stuff that could be done by regular, ordinary human beings. Now, after the stuff with Ba'al, the dreams got _really_ creative, real sci-fi horror movie stuff. The worst ones were when it wasn't me that he was torturing, but you, Carter or Teal'c, and I was being forced to watch as he tortured and killed one or more of you over and over again, your eyes begging me to do something to save you." Jack paused. He'd made an effort not to ever think about those dreams again, but, if this could help Daniel, he'd resurrect the horror of those nightmare visions.

Jack looked over at his friend and saw that Daniel wasn't looking at him. He was hunched over on the couch, staring at the floor.

"Nightmares come with the territory, Daniel. Any human being who can go through the things we do and not have nightmares afterwards has probably lost a good part of what makes them human. You're not alone in this. You don't have to hide this from us."

Daniel's eyes closed. "I just want it to be over."

"I know. I didn't tell you this before, but Hammond says that you're going to need to be cleared by a psychiatrist before you can return to full active duty and go off-world."

"I'm not talking to MacKenzie," Daniel declared flatly.

"No, and Hammond doesn't expect you to. There's that shrink who's been conducting the regular psych evaluations ever since the Ma'chello debacle. There are also some specialists in the field of treating military personnel who have been captured and tortured. They made me talk to one after the Ba'al stuff." Jack paused. "Or you could talk to Doctor Woods."

Daniel looked at him. "She's already been approached about this. She talked to me that afternoon you took Danny."

"And?"

Daniel shrugged. "We didn't talk much, mainly about how I felt about what happened."

"But you did talk to her. That's good. Doctor Woods said that, if you were willing to talk to her, she'd help you, if she could."

Daniel lapsed into silence. He didn't want to talk about this with anyone. He wanted to just try to forget it and get on with his life. But that was obviously not going to cut it with General Hammond, and probably not with Jack either. If he had no choice but to talk with someone, Meredith would be better than somebody he didn't know or trust.

"Okay, I'll talk with her," he said, making no secret of the fact that he was not happy about it.

Jack nodded shortly. He rose to his feet. "Well, I'm going back to bed. Morning will come quickly."

Daniel looked at his watch. "I guess it's too late to call a cab."

"That would be my guess. So, you can either stay where you are or share the guestroom with Danny."

"I might as well stay on the couch."

"Okay. See you in the morning."

"Night, Jack."

"G'night."

* * *

No more dreams disturbed Daniel's rest that night, and it was necessary for Jack to shake him awake in the morning. Danny was surprised and happy to see Daniel there when he got up. The archeologist realized that, since things didn't quite work out as planned this time, he'd have to make arrangements for the child to sleep over with someone on another night.

After a quick stop at Daniel's so that he could change, the trio went to breakfast, where Danny got blueberry waffles. Daniel went with the apple cinnamon ones.

After his morning physical therapy, Daniel went to see General Hammond. He told the general about his decision to let Meredith talk with him about his ordeal in Honduras. He learned that Bill Lee was also scheduled to speak with somebody. Daniel felt bad that he hadn't spoken with the man since the debriefing and decided to go visit him. Bill had been ordered to take a couple of days off, but was now back at work.

After leaving Hammond's office, Daniel went to Bill's lab.

"Hi," he said.

Bill's eyes went to his, then skittered away. "Oh. Um, hi, Daniel. How's the leg? I see you're using a cane now. That's good."

"It's doing all right. How are _you_ doing?"

"Okay. The bruises are fading, and the burns don't hurt as much."

"That's good. Um . . . Bill, I—"

"I'm so sorry, Daniel," the scientist blurted out. "It's all my fault."

"What's all your fault?"

"You being exposed to the device and having to go through withdrawal. If I hadn't told Rafael what it was, he wouldn't have turned it on."

Daniel sighed. He went over to a chair and sat down. "We don't know what would have happened if you hadn't talked, Bill. Things could have been even worse. Rafael might have ended up killing one of us. Going through withdrawal again is better than one of us being dead."

"I still feel horrible about it. You were so strong. You didn't give in. And I was weak."

"Bill, we talked about this before. You're not used to that kind of stuff. I am."

Bill stared at him doubtfully. "You're used to being tortured?"

"Well . . . no, but I have been through a lot of stuff, including torture, a few rounds with a ribbon device, being zatted way more times than I care to count, staff blast wounds, radiation poisoning, and let's not forget dying more than once." Daniel met Bill's eyes. "It happened, and we survived. It's time to move on and put it behind us."

"I can't believe you don't hate me for it."

"What good would hating you do? I've only truly hated one person in my life, and that was Apophis. You're not even a Goa'uld."

"Well, I'm still sorry."

"Okay. Apology accepted."

Bill gazed at him. "Thanks, Daniel."

Daniel gave him a nod. Then he got to his feet. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay."

Daniel walked down the corridor to Sam's lab.

"Hey," she greeted with a smile. "How's the cane working out?"

"Way better than the crutches. I, uh, just went to see Bill."

"That's good. He's feeling really guilty about what happened."

"Yeah, I know." Daniel took a seat. "So, what are you up to?"

"Work, work, work, as usual. Oh, by the way. We got a report from the people working on the Prometheus. They think it will be ready for the trip home in another week or so."

"That's good."

"Yeah. It's going to have to be babied, though. That hyperdrive engine wasn't made for a ship that big."

"It's from an Al'Kesh, right?"

"Uh huh. It'll be necessary to make several stops along the way to let the engine cool down." Sam paused. "They'll need someone with a lot of knowledge and experience with hyperdrive systems to be there in case there's trouble."

Daniel smiled slightly. "And you're the best expert we have around here."

"Well, there are other people who could do it, but. . . ."

Daniel studied her closely. "There's something else."

"Um, yeah. The flight plan would take the ship pretty close to something I'd love to see. It looks like a nebula, but it exhibits some unusual properties that really have us puzzled. This could be the only chance I'd ever get to see it. Don't tell General Hammond or the colonel about that, though. This isn't supposed to be a sightseeing trip, and I'm not sure I could talk Colonel Ronson into the detour anyway."

"I promise I won't say a word." Daniel paused. "Um . . . I'm going to be talking to Meredith about Honduras."

Sam grasped his hand. "Daniel, that's great. I'm so glad you're going to do that."

"Well, I don't really have a choice. Hammond won't clear me for full active duty until I get a green light from a psychologist. Meredith agreed to talk with me, and I decided that I'd rather do it with her than someone I don't know."

"It was nice of her to agree to that seeing as her field is child psychology." Sam's hand gave his a little squeeze. "You'll get through it fine, Daniel." Her gaze intensified. "You do know that any time you need to talk, I'm here for you, right?"

Daniel gave her a smile. "Yeah, I know." He leaned forward, and they shared a kiss. "Well, I'd better let you get back to work."

"Oh, um, I have to work tomorrow, but we're both off Sunday, so I was thinking that I could come over tomorrow night." Sam smiled. "I know that you wouldn't be up to doing anything . . . energetic, but just some cuddling would be great."

Daniel paused before replying. "Um . . . you know how much I've been missing you, but, as I mentioned before, my sleep hasn't been very peaceful. It sometimes takes me a while to get into a comfortable position. I'd really hate to keep you awake. I'll probably be feeling a lot better in a few days." He put on a smile. "Maybe by then, I'll even be up for some of that energetic stuff."

Sam was disappointed with Daniel's answer, but kept it hidden. "Oh. Uh, okay. Maybe next weekend, then. That is if I'm not on the Prometheus."

"How about if you come over Sunday and spend the day with me and Danny? We couldn't really go out and do much of anything, but a picnic in the park would be okay." Daniel smiled. "You and I can do a little cuddling while Danny goes off and plays."

"Sure. That would be nice."

Daniel left Sam's office, feeling a little down. He ached to be with her, to fall asleep beside her and wake up to the sight of her beautiful face. But it just wouldn't be a good idea yet, not as long as he was having these nightmares every night.

Sam's mood was also a bit low as she got back to work. She had really been looking forward to spending tomorrow night with Daniel. It had been nearly two weeks since the last time they were together, and it felt like forever.

To make herself feel better, Sam thought about that last weekend she spent with Daniel. That Friday had been another team night. After Teal'c and Jack were gone and Danny was in bed, Daniel wasted no time getting her naked and in his bed. It was a miracle they didn't wake Danny up with their sounds of passion. The next morning, instead of a shower, they took a long, hot bath together. Quite understandably, they did a lot more than just wash themselves. Their lovemaking resumed that night, during which Daniel showed a very appreciative Sam some of the interesting mating practices he'd learned through his anthropological studies.

With a smile on her face, Sam resumed work.

* * *

Once Daniel got back to his office, he called Meredith. The therapist was happy to hear that he was willing to talk more about what happened and said that she could come tomorrow.

"Tomorrow's Saturday," Daniel responded. "Won't your husband object to you working? Or is he out of town again?"

"No, but he is sick with a cold, and he's a big grouch whenever he's sick. I was intending to work tomorrow anyway to prevent myself from strangling him."

Daniel laughed. "He sounds like Jack. You'd think that a guy with his years in the military would be able to tough out anything without complaint, but if he's got a cold or the flu, he's like a cranky two-year-old. During a bad bout of the flu, Janet actually kicked him out of the infirmary to avoid bodily injury being done to him by the nurses."

Meredith also laughed. "Yep, that sounds like Rob, all right. So, tomorrow? If I wake up in the morning and discover I've caught Rob's cold, I'll call and cancel."

"Okay, that would be fine. I'm off tomorrow, so it will be at my place. I guess I should arrange for somebody to watch Danny."

"That would be advisable, at least for the first couple of times. I will want to bring him into it eventually, though. Considering what Danny also went through, it would be good for both of you to talk about what happened."

They set up a time, then Daniel said goodbye. Next, he talked to Jack to find out if he could watch Danny in the morning. Jack said he could.

Perhaps it was Daniel's nervousness and stress over the upcoming talk with Meredith that made his nightmare that night especially bad. Whatever the reason, he woke up from the dream with a cry, tears on his face, his body trembling. It took quite a while for him to calm down. Seeing that it wasn't even two a.m., he knew that he had to try to get some more sleep. After laying there for a good hour, he finally managed to drift back off.

The second nightmare awakened him at a little after 5:30. Daniel decided to go ahead and get up.

Jack arrived at nine, looking forward to spending the morning with Danny. He intended to take the boy back to the skating rink so that they could finally do some ice stating.

"So, what time is she supposed to arrive?" Jack asked his teammate.

"Ten."

Jack studied Daniel's face. "You okay?"

"Um . . . yeah. I'm just kind of tense."

"That's understandable." Jack patted the younger man's shoulder. "It'll be fine, Daniel."

The session with Meredith was not easy for Daniel, having to talk about the pain and fear, the certainty after being shocked the ninth or tenth time that he was going to die, that he'd never see Danny, Sam or any of the other people he loved again. Meredith listened to it all with understanding and patience, encouraging him whenever he got to a bad spot. By the time it was over, Daniel felt emotionally drained.

Meredith laid a hand on his arm. "You did well, Daniel, though I know it was hard on you. But I really think that getting all of that out will help. I think I'm right in guessing that you're normally the kind of person who bottles bad things up inside."

"Yeah, pretty much, at least when it comes to the really bad stuff."

Meredith got to her feet, as did Daniel.

"This was a very good first session," the therapist said. "If you think you're up to it, I'd like us to have another one on Monday. Depending on how that one goes, we can bring Danny in on the Tuesday session."

"Don't you have other patients?"

"Yes, but my schedule is pretty flexible. I have another patient coming in early Monday afternoon, so we'll have to make yours early enough for me to get back in time."

"Sure, that won't be a problem. It'll be at the base this time."

"Okay. Nine o'clock, then?"

"That'll be fine." 


	46. Chapter 46

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Jack and Danny returned at noon with lunch in hand.

"So, how did it go?" Jack asked while Danny was off washing his hands.

"All right. It wasn't easy."

"No, I bet it wasn't. You going to do it again?"

"Monday morning."

"Good."

Daniel was not very talkative during lunch, which was fine since Danny was bubbling over with things to say about his first time on ice skates. Jack noticed how quiet Daniel was, but didn't say anything because of Danny's presence.

After lunch, Jack looked at his watch. "Well, I need to get going. There's some paperwork I've been putting off that Hammond chewed my ear off about. It needs to be done before Monday. Daniel? Walk me out to my car."

Once they reached the car, Jack subjected Daniel to a searching look. "Really bad, huh?"

Daniel sighed. "It could have been worse. It's just not easy talking about something like that, bringing it all out in the open, talking about how I felt throughout the whole thing."

"Yes, how well I know that. I've had to do the same thing more than once, after the stuff in Iraq and after that little party with Ba'al." Jack gave a mirthless smile. "For some strange reason, both times, the shrinks told me that I had anger issues. Gee, go figure. I kind of doubt that Doc Woods told you the same thing."

"No, anger is not one of my problems," Daniel confirmed.

"You wanna talk about what is? Aside from the nightmares, that is."

"Thanks, Jack, but once is enough."

"I hear ya. Well, if you change your mine, I'm just a phone call away."

"Thanks."

After leaving Daniel's, Jack headed to the SGC. He bumped into Sam in the corridor.

"You're working today, sir?" Sam asked.

"Paperwork, the bane of my existence. What about you?"

"I got pretty far behind due to all that stuff with the drones and, um, everything else. I'm trying to do some catching up today."

"Ah. Well, don't work too hard."

Sam gave him a nod of acquiescence. "Sir, did you see Daniel today?"

"Yep, just came from his place, in fact."

"How did the session with Meredith go?"

"It was rough. Talking about things like that isn't easy. Maybe you can get him to talk about it tonight."

"Oh, um, I won't be going over there tonight, sir."

That surprised Jack. "I figured that since you both have tomorrow off. . . ."

Sam shifted uncomfortably. It felt very weird talking about her 'sleeping arrangements' with Daniel to her C.O. "Daniel said he's not sleeping too well because of his injuries and doesn't want to disturb my sleep."

Jack frowned. He had a hunch that his injuries were not the reason why Daniel had turned down a night with Sam. "I'm guessing you don't know that he's been having nightmares every night."

Sam reacted with surprise. "What? No, I didn't. He never said a word."

"I wouldn't have known either if he hadn't fallen asleep on my couch Thursday night. As usual, he planned on hiding it all behind those walls he builds up every time life really dumps on him."

"Then that's the real reason why he didn't want me to come over."

"That's my guess."

Sam's expression firmed. "Thank you for telling me, sir."

Jack studied her face. "I'm guessing that your plans have changed."

"Yes, sir, they have."

Jack smiled slightly. "Good. Don't let Daniel chase you out of the house."

* * *

Danny had been in bed for around twenty minutes when there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find Sam on the other side.

"Sam? What . . . what are you doing here?"

Sam stepped past Daniel. "I changed my mind. I'm not going to worry about you waking me up. After all, I don't have to work tomorrow, so we can sleep in."

"B-but. . . ." Daniel's voice trailed off as Sam went into the bedroom with her overnight bag. He was still standing there when she came back out.

"So, you got any ice cream?" the major asked, heading for the kitchen.

"Um . . . yeah, Dutch Chocolate." Daniel entered the kitchen. "Look, Sam. It's not that I don't want to be with you tonight. . . ."

Sam turned and stared at him. "It's that you didn't want me to know about the nightmares."

Crap. "Jack told you, didn't he."

"Yes, but it should have been you, Daniel. You shouldn't keep things like that from me. We're a couple, and I love you. When you're hurting, I want to know."

Daniel went to the dining room and sat down with a sigh. "I know, Sam, and I'm sorry. I just. . . . For so many years, I was used to hiding things like this. And . . . and I didn't want to upset and worry you more."

Sam sat down and took his hands. "Daniel, part of being a couple is to be there for each other in both the good times and the bad. Yes, it would upset me to see you hurting, but it upsets me more when you shut yourself off from me."

"I'm sorry," Daniel murmured, eyes downcast.

"Just don't do it again, okay?"

"Okay."

Sam smiled and kissed him. "Come on. Let's have some ice cream and watch a little TV, then go to bed. It was a long day for me."

As they ate their ice cream, Daniel talked a little about the session with Meredith, though he did not go into details. Sam could tell by his body language even more than his words that it had not been an easy morning for him.

They decided to forego TV and go to bed early, both of them feeling tired. After getting dressed for bed, Sam snuggled up next to Daniel, being careful of his injuries. He nuzzled his face into her hair and sighed.

"I really missed this," he whispered.

"Me too."

Daniel smiled. "I miss the other thing, too."

Sam propped herself up on an elbow and looked down at him. "What other thing would that be, Doctor Jackson?"

Daniel ran his hand slowly down her body. "Oh, I bet you can guess." He found an especially tender part of her anatomy, making her gasp.

"Better be careful, Daniel. You keep doing that, and we'll be seeing how healed you really are."

Daniel grinned. "Well, the rest of me may not be in good enough shape for that other stuff," he raised his head and whispered in her ear, "but my hands are working just fine." He illustrated his meaning by touching her intimately.

Sam was so tempted to say yes, but she didn't want their first time together after so long to be one-sided. "Very tempting, but I think I'll wait until your whole body can get in on the act."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Just being with you is enough for me tonight." Sam laid her head back down on Daniel's chest. "I love you."

"And I love you."

* * *

Sam was awakened by the sound of a moan of torment. She lifted her head and looked at Daniel. The only movement of his body was the rapid darting of his eyes back and forth beneath his eyelids, but the look on his face and the sounds he was making were more than enough to tell Sam that he was having a bad one. Tears were leaking from the corners of his eyes, wetting the pillow. Another moan welled out of his throat, louder and full of pain and grief.

Sam was startled at that moment by a barely audible knock on the door.

"D-Daniel?" came a scared little voice.

"Danny?" Sam called out.

The door opened, and the boy came in. "Sam? You're here? What's wrong with Daniel? I got up because I was thirsty, and I heard him. Is he sick again?"

"No, sweetheart. He's having a bad dream. I need to wake him up." Sam turned to the man on the bed. Gently, she shook him. "Daniel? Daniel, it's Sam. Wake up." She shook him harder. "Come on, Daniel. Wake up."

For a few more seconds, there was no response, then, with a terrible cry, Daniel hurled out of sleep. He sat bolt upright.

"Oh, God," he choked out, covering his face. After a few seconds, he became aware that someone was rubbing his back and talking to him soothingly. That's when he remembered that Sam was with him.

"D-Daniel?"

The archeologist lifted his head and saw a frightened Danny staring at him, wide-eyed.

"It's . . . it's okay, Danny." His voice trembled slightly. "I just had a really bad dream."

The boy ran up to him, clambered onto the bed and wrapped his arms around Daniel. He pulled the boy into a one-armed hug, his other arm around Sam, who held him close.

"It's okay, Daniel," Danny's little voice said. "When I had the bad dreams, you hugged me and told me it was going to be okay." The boy tightened his hold around Daniel and whispered, "It's going to be okay."

Hearing the child speak those words cracked Daniel's heart wide open, and he began to cry. Sam and Danny held him tightly. Sam knew that Daniel really needed this, to let it all out instead of holding the pain inside.

At last, Daniel's tears stopped. He pulled away a little, wiping his face.

Sam gave him a gentle smile. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah." Daniel drew in a deep, unsteady breath. He should be feeling embarrassed right now, but, for some reason, he didn't. Instead, he felt very loved. He looked down at Danny and caressed the boy's cheek. Then, without a word, he pulled the two people he loved most in the world close to him and laid back down. With Danny tucked in between them, his and Sam's hands joined atop the boy's body, Daniel closed his eyes and slid peacefully back into sleep.

* * *

Daniel and Danny were still asleep when Sam awoke the next morning. A smile came to her face as she watched them for a few minutes. She then kissed each of them on the cheek and got up.

It was another hour before Daniel awoke. After using the bathroom, he came out into the living room and found Sam reading the paper.

"Good morning," he said as he came up to her. He sat on the couch and kissed her, pulling her into a hug.

"How are you feeling?" Sam asked as they drew apart.

"Better. I'm glad I didn't have another nightmare."

Sam searched his face. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Daniel looked down at their entwined hands. "Most of them are variations on the same theme. Honduras, the rebels, the Telchak device. It's usually a whole lot worse than it really was. The one last night was . . . especially bad."

Sam tightened her hold on Daniel's hand. "Have you talked to Meredith about this?"

"No, not yet."

"You should talk to her. She might have some advice for you." Sam paused. "I never told you this, but, after you ascended, I had nightmares about the whole thing. In most of them, you died."

Daniel put an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry."

"You know what I finally did? I wrote you a letter. It was after we got back from the mission to save Heimdall. I wrote how much I missed you, how much I wished you'd come back. I said in that letter so many things that I never told you in person, what your friendship meant to me, how much I admired and respected you. I pretty much poured my heart out " She smiled a little weakly. "The paper was pretty tear-stained by the time I finished. I think that a part of me was hoping that you were there, reading what I was writing, things that I should have said when you were . . . when you were with us. I guess it helped, acted as a kind of catharsis, because the nightmares got better and went away after a few more days."

Daniel drew Sam in close to his chest. "What did you do with the letter?"

Sam smiled. "You know that night after you came back when we all had dinner at the colonel's?"

Daniel nodded, recalling that dinner and the bonds he began to reestablish with his friends that night. "Yes, the one Jack warned me not to be late for out of consideration for the state of Teal'c's blood sugar level."

"What?"

Daniel briefly told her what Jack said that day in the gate room after Jonas had left for home.

"Well, after I got home, I took out the letter and burned it. It was a sad letter about losing a friend, and you weren't lost anymore." She met his eyes. "I had you back."

Daniel cupped her face in his hand and kissed her. He then tucked her head under his chin. "I'm glad it helped." His lips curled upward. "Unfortunately, I don't think that writing a letter to Rafael and ranting at him would help much."

Sam lifted her head and looked at him. "Maybe not. But the thing you have to remember, Daniel, is that you survived. You made it through all the things he did to you and came out of that jungle alive. As hard as he tried to break you and then kill you, he didn't succeed. You won, and he lost. And then you won again by making it through the withdrawal."

Daniel was silent for a while. "Meredith talked about me winning. I told her that I didn't really feel like I'd won anything."

"Yet you did."

Daniel thought about her words. In their first therapy session, Meredith had told him that he needed to focus on the good things about his experience, to have a more positive attitude about how he stood up to the torture, how he managed to get himself and Bill free, and how he succeeded in protecting Bill. And then there was the first victory of finding the device.

Daniel's thoughts were interrupted by Danny coming out of the bedroom. The boy came over to the couch and sat on the other side of Daniel, hugging him, his young eye searching his guardian's face.

"Did you have another nightmare?" he asked.

The archeologist hugged him. "Nope." He kissed the child's forehead. "But then, how could I have a nightmare when I had the two people I love best in the world holding me?"

"Is Sam going to stay tonight? We could all sleep together again."

Daniel glanced at Sam. "Um, I don't know if she'll be staying, but, regardless, I think that it would be best for you to sleep in your own bed. I think I'll be okay tonight."

"I don't want you to have any more bad dreams."

Daniel smiled down at him. "I know, Danny, and I want to thank you for helping me last night. It did make me feel better." He looked back and forth between the two people in his arms. "So, breakfast anyone?"

* * *

That afternoon, Daniel, Sam and Danny went to the park and had a big picnic. They "borrowed" Barkler from Marie, and Danny had a great time playing with the dog while the two adults watched.

"If Jack saw this, you know what he'd do," Daniel said.

"He'd go out and buy Danny a dog," Sam replied.

"Yep. Frankly, I'm surprised he hasn't already done so. Look how fast he bought that puppy for Cassie." Daniel gazed at the boy and dog thoughtfully. "I guess it wouldn't really be that bad of an idea, although I'd have to find someone who could take care of the dog whenever we're on a mission since Danny would likely be staying at the base. That is unless I make other arrangements. I need to start figuring some things out. I'm going to be calling one of the private schools on Monday to see about getting Danny enrolled. Once he starts going to school, he won't be coming with me to work, which means that I need to figure out what to do about the hours between the time that Danny gets out of school and I get home."

"Actually, I was thinking about that a while ago," Sam said. "You know, there is a daycare center not far from the base. A lot of the female personnel use it. I'm betting that the school has a bus that takes kids out that way. It could drop Danny off there, then someone from the base could pick him up and bring him to the SGC."

Daniel nodded. "That's a good idea." His gaze went back to the child. "It's going to be strange not having him there all day. I'm going to miss him."

"I know what you mean. I'll miss our meals in the commissary with him. Actually, I can think of several people who are going to miss him. The majority of the base personnel absolutely adore him." Sam wrapped her arms about Daniel's waist. "We'll get it all worked out, Daniel. Don't worry."

That evening, after Danny had gone to bed, Daniel and Sam sat out on the front porch, looking up at the stars. The archeologist drew in a deep breath of the cool night air and let it out slowly. They were right. He was alive. He beat the odds and made it though one of the most horrific moments of his life. And he didn't break, no matter how hard Rafael tried. Even at the end, when the man was coming toward him with that machete, and he didn't think he was going to survive, he did not give up.

"You're right, Sam," he murmured. "I did win."

That night, for the first time in days, no nightmares disturbed Daniel's sleep. He woke up feeling refreshed, Sam's sleeping face the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes.

The second session with Meredith was a lot easier than the first. The therapist noticed the difference in his attitude about everything and was very pleased by it. She made arrangements to return the next morning.

Daniel's call to the private school was promising. Though the fall semester had already begun, they would still accept new enrollments. They told him that the first step was an interview alone with the parents. Daniel explained that Danny's mother was dead. He arranged for an interview at four o'clock.

Daniel had not been off the phone for long when there was an unscheduled off-world activation. A few minutes later, he was called to the briefing room. He was surprised to see Esha there. Jack was there as well.

The Cedarnan came toward the archeologist with a smile. "Daniel, I am pleased to see you." He looked down at the cane. "But you are injured."

"It's nothing, Esha. It's healing well."

"Good. You must be well for the ceremony."

"Ceremony?"

"Esha was just explaining to us that they've finished a new wing on their museum," Hammond said, "and that they wish for SG-1 to be the guests of honor during the grand opening."

"Yes, yes," Esha said. "You all must be there. It is because of you and your brethren that we had reason to build this new wing, which is for the history of our struggle to save our people and the salvation you gave to us."

"So, Esha, did you make those statues you were talking about?" Jack asked curiously.

"Indeed we did, Colonel O'Neill, as well as fine portraits of each of you. They hold the place of honor."

Jack's chest puffed out a little. "Sweet."

"When is the ceremony going to be?" Daniel asked Esha, amused by Jack's reaction.

"Tomorrow at midday. I hope I do not come to tell you too late."

Everyone turned to Hammond.

"I see no reason why you can't go," he said. "Our trade agreement with the Cedarnans has worked out quite well for us."

Esha clapped in delight. "Excellent!" He turned to Daniel. "We would also be delighted if your younger self could attend. Is he well?"

"Um, yes, he's well, but I don't know if he could go."

"Well, I don't see why not," Jack said. He looked at his C.O. "What do you say, General? After all, technically, Cedarna is Danny's place of birth."

Hammond smiled. "Very well. You have my permission to take him."

"Thank you, sir," Daniel said.

A few details were sorted out with Esha, then the Cedarnan went back home. Daniel called Sam and told her the news, while Jack did the same with Teal'c. Then, all four members of SG-1 went to Daniel's office to tell Danny.

"Hey, Danny, Daniel's got some pretty cool news for you," Jack said, grinning broadly.

"What?" Danny asked.

"Well, the Cedarnans just contacted us," Daniel said. "They've built a new wing on their museum, and they want SG-1 to come for the grand opening."

"We're going to be the guests of honor," Jack stated. "They've even got statues and paintings of us in the museum."

"Really? That's so cool!" Danny exclaimed.

Daniel smiled. "And guess what else. You're invited, too."

Danny's eyes grew enormous. "I get to go through the Stargate?"

"You sure do, kiddo," Jack replied.

"Yippeeeee!" Danny yelled, hopping up and down. "When are we going?"

"Tomorrow."

"Oh wow, oh wow!"

The four adults laughed in delight at the child's joy.

It took quite a while for Danny to calm down. As soon as he'd stopped dancing around the room and babbling excitedly, Daniel called Meredith to reschedule their next session.

"Did something happen?" the therapist asked.

"Yes, but it's a good something. I'm sure that Danny will be dying to tell you all about it when he sees you."

* * *

After leaving Daniel's office, Sam asked Jack if she could speak to him in private. They both went to his office.

"Sir, I found the information you wanted on Harold Schubert," the major said. "After he was arrested for what he did to Daniel, the police apparently convinced his wife to talk. She revealed that he'd abused several other children they'd fostered. Um, the investigators noticed a pattern to the abuse, sir. Most of the abused children were boys with higher intelligence, those who got good grades in school. Schubert barely made it through the ninth grade."

"Crap. It's a miracle Daniel wasn't killed by the bastard."

Sam nodded. "Schubert was found guilty on multiple counts of child abuse and was sent to prison. His wife divorced him. Since then, he's been in and out of jail several times. He's presently serving consecutive sentences for two counts of attempted murder."

The news pleased Jack. The bastard was in prison where he belonged. "Thanks, Carter. It would probably be best if we didn't share this with Daniel, especially that part about why Schubert targeted him. Daniel doesn't have to know it was because the jerk was jealous of his intellect." 


	47. Chapter 47

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Daniel was a little nervous when he went for the appointment at the school. He was met by Helen Lowell, a heavyset woman in her mid-fifties.

"Doctor Jackson," the woman greeted, shaking his hand.

The archeologist took a seat before the woman's desk.

"Now, first of all, I understand that you are interested in our advanced classes for your son. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"What is his present level of schooling?"

"As far as formal schooling is concerned, he's had some fourth grade education."

The woman nodded. "He is eight years old, correct?"

"That's right."

"And what of informal schooling? I got the impression that there has been some."

"Yes. Danny has been home schooled quite a bit, much of it being on dig sites. You see, I'm an archeologist, specializing in Egyptology. His mother was as well. Because of this, Danny has extensive knowledge of Egyptian history and mythology, as well as a pretty fair amount of knowledge about several other cultures. I'm also a linguist, as was his mother, so he knows a great deal about languages, too."

"Oh? Does he know any other languages?"

"Six spoken languages, seven pretty soon, if he keeps going at the rate he is with his Italian lessons."

The woman's eyes widened slightly. "That is very impressive. You said six _spoken_ languages."

"Yes, he can also read Hieratic, quite a few Egyptian hieroglyphic symbols, and is learning Akkadian and Sumerian cuneiform. I've also recently started teaching him ancient Egyptian Demotic." For obvious reasons, Daniel didn't mention anything about the Goa'uld that Danny was learning from both him and Teal'c or the Ancient that the boy had taken a keen interest in.

"Well, that's . . . that's pretty amazing. What about math and science?"

"He does well, but those are not his strongest areas, although my girlfriend seems to think that he has a lot more talent than I believed he did. Her background is in astrophysics, and she's been giving him a bit of tutoring. She told me that he's done very well."

"Well, it certainly sounds like your son would do just fine in the advanced classes, although we will need more details on his developmental history before making a final decision. I assume you have previous school records available."

"Yes." He handed her a folder that contained the fake school records that had been created for Danny. The people who fabricated the records used Daniel's schooling as a blueprint – with one notable exception. Danny's records showed that much of his formal school was out of the country. The reason for that was just in case anyone at Danny's new school wanted to speak personally with any of his teachers.

"I don't know if it would be possible to speak to any of his teachers since they're mostly in other countries," Daniel said.

"That isn't a requirement, Doctor Jackson, although, if it would be possible for one of them call us, it would be appreciated."

"I'll see what I can do."

"It is our policy to know a little about the background, viewpoints and philosophies of the child's parents as well. We want to be sure that our goals and philosophies will not clash with that of the parents."

"Oh . . . um, all right. What do you want to know?"

"How about a little about your background?"

"Okay. Like Danny, I spent most of my early years on digs. My parents were archeologists as well. They died when I was Danny's age. After that, I went into the foster care system."

"I see. And what of your education?"

"I entered college when I was sixteen. I earned a Ph.D at UCLA in philology and ones in anthropology and archeology at the University of Chicago."

It was pretty clear that the woman was surprised by that revelation, and Daniel could guess why. Not many foster care children had those kinds of credentials.

"Well, that's also quite impressive, Doctor Jackson," she said. "What is your present job?"

"I work as a linguist, cultural expert and diplomat for the U.S. government and military. I work mostly out of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, but I also travel out of the country a great deal."

"That sounds like a fascinating job."

Keeping his expression perfectly straight, Daniel replied, "Yes, it can get pretty exciting at times."

"And Danny's mother?"

Daniel gave her the background and educational information that had been created for Danny's fictitious mother.

"When did your wife pass away?" Helen asked.

"Only three months ago, actually. She and I were divorced, and Danny lived mostly with her. He came to live with me after her death."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. That must have been very hard on the boy."

Daniel nodded. "Yes, it was. He . . . witnessed her death. It's a touchy subject that's best not brought up."

"I understand completely. We certainly wouldn't want to do or say anything to upset him."

They spoke a while longer about Daniel's viewpoints on certain subjects that would have a bearing on what Danny was taught and in what manner.

The woman smiled. "Well, Doctor Jackson, from what you've told me, it sounds like Danny would be an excellent student for our school. We will first need to meet him, of course, and we would require that he participate in one of our classrooms so that you, the other students, and the teachers can see if this is the right place for him." Helen looked at her calendar. "Let's see. The rest of this week is pretty full. Next Monday is Labor Day. There will be no classes, but I and many of the teachers will be here. Would that day work out all right for you to bring Danny here to meet us?"

"Sure, that should be fine, unless something comes up. I'm afraid that, in my job, I often get called out of the country with little advance notice, although, since I'm presently recovering from an injury, I don't think we have to worry about that right now."

"Ah. I was wondering about the cane. Nothing serious, I hope."

"It's healing."

"That's good. If everything goes well on Monday, you can bring Danny in on Tuesday for his time in the classroom, that is if you can arrange for the time off from work. How long we'll observe him in the classroom depends on how long it takes for all of us to determine if he will do well here."

"I should be able to take a few hours off."

"Good. Oh, one more thing. In regards to the tuition. . . ."

"It won't be a problem. The government pays very well."

"Yes, of course. We do have a scholarship program, but it would be too late now to apply for it this year." Helen extended her hand, which Daniel shook. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Doctor Jackson. We'll look forward to seeing your son next Monday."

* * *

As SG-1 waited in the gate room for the gate to be dialed, they all watched Danny in amusement. The child was so excited he could barely keep still.

Danny was dressed in a sharp little suit and tie. Sam thought it was so cute that the suit matched the gray one Daniel was wearing. She and Jack were in their dress blues. Teal'c was also wearing a suit, though his was black.

At that moment, the wormhole formed. General Hammond got word from the Cedarnans that all was well.

"You have a go, SG-1 . . . and Danny."

Daniel held out his hand to the boy. "Ready?"

Danny's head bobbed up and down rapidly. Sam took the boy's other hand.

"Okay, let's go," she said.

Teal'c and Jack headed up the ramp first, the other three right behind them. As they stepped out the other side, Danny's eyes were wide.

"Wow. I didn't really feel anything, but that was so cool!" He looked around. "We're on another planet? It looks just like Earth."

"A lot of planets do," Daniel explained.

"Yes, trees," Jack said. "Trees, trees everywhere."

"Not, _everywhere_, Jack. I don't think I have to remind you about some of the places we've been to."

A group of Cedarnans came forward, Esha in the lead.

"Welcome back, my friends!" Esha greeted. He looked down at Danny. "Ah, my child. It is so wonderful to see you looking well."

"Danny, this is Esha," Daniel said. "He's one of the leaders of his people."

"Hello. Were you one of the people who made me?"

"I was involved in the process. I am the one who took the sample from Daniel and gave it to the scientists who used it to create you." Esha looked at SG-1. "Come. We have prepared a place where you can wait until the ceremony begins."

SG-1 and Danny were greeted with smiles by everyone they passed. The atmosphere of the place was so different from what it had been before. When they were there last time, few people smiled, and the place had a quiet, sedate feel about it. Now, there was laughter in the air and a feeling of excitement and hope.

"I am most pleased to say that many of the women who have gotten pregnant with the methods you taught us have managed to sustain their pregnancies to date," Esha said, beaming. "In a few short months, we will have the joy of welcoming many new babies into our society."

Danny and SG-1 were taken to a house that looked like it had recently been repaired and renovated.

"This house was one of many that was no longer needed as our population grew smaller," Esha explained. "It has been prepared for you. I hope you will be comfortable here."

"Thank you, Esha," Daniel said. "This is great."

The man smiled and bowed his head. "Someone will be sent to get you at the proper time. Now, if you will excuse me, I have many duties to attend to before the opening ceremony."

Everyone wandered around the house. There was a tray of fruit, cheese and bread on a table in the dining area. Daniel took one that looked a bit like an apple.

"Uh, you think that's wise, Daniel?" Jack asked. "I mean considering what we know about the water."

"The water problem has been fixed, Jack, remember? Beside, even if there are some traces of that chemical in this fruit, one isn't going to be enough to hurt me." Daniel backed his statement up by taking a healthy bite out of the fruit. His eyes widened. "Wow." He turned to Sam. "Sam, you've got to taste this." He held the fruit out to her, and she took a bite.

"Oh my. That's better than any apple I've ever had."

"Can I have a bite?" Danny asked. Daniel handed him the fruit. "Wow, that's really good." He gave Daniel's fruit back to him and grabbed a whole one off the tray. Sam did likewise. Curious, Teal'c also took one.

"This has a most pleasant flavor," the Jaffa said.

Jack glowered at all of them as they happily munched their fruit. "Oh, all right!" he said, snatching one off the tray. "But if this does something to all my little guys, I'm blaming you, Daniel."

"What little guys?" Danny asked with innocent curiosity.

Daniel, Sam and Teal'c all looked at Jack expectantly.

"Yes, Jack. What little guys?" Daniel questioned, his face straight.

After glaring back at his teammates, Jack's reply was to take a huge bite out of his fruit and mumble a totally unintelligible answer.

"Hey, this _is_ good," he said after chewing for a moment.

They had been waiting for not quite an hour when a man came to get them. He led them to the museum, which appeared to have at least half the population gathered outside. Esha was standing on a podium.

"My brothers and sisters," he said, his voice amplified by some unseen method. "Today, we unveil a new wing to our museum, an addition that chronicles the long history of our people suffering through the sorrow of watching each passing year bring us fewer children. It chronicles our failures in finding a cure and speaks of our few successes. But, more importantly, this addition also tells the story of the people who came to us and, though we betrayed their trust, gave us the knowledge and technology we needed to save our people." Esha motioned for SG-1 and Danny to come up onto the podium. "These people, Doctor Daniel Jackson, Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter, and Teal'c, are our saviors, and it is fitting that they be the ones to open the door to our museum on this special day."

Esha led the five visitors to the front door of the museum. He handed Daniel a key-like object and gestured toward the door. Daniel slipped the key in the lock. The door opened by itself, and the lights turned on. Behind them, they heard the crowd cheering.

"Come," Esha said. "You will be given a special tour of the museum before others are let in."

They wandered around the building, Esha explaining the various displays. Since only Daniel could read the plaques and signs, the others had to rely wholly upon him and Esha for explanations on everything.

At last, they came to a heavy curtain covering a doorway.

"And this is our new wing," Esha said. He pulled on a decorative rope, and the curtain rose toward the ceiling.

The displays and signs were arranged in chronological order, beginning with the first realization that there had been a drop in the number of births and continuing on through the various attempts to find out the reason and correct the problem. The discovery of the cloning machine had a large display, including a detailed model of what it looked like.

They came to another curtain. Esha smiled at them.

"And this is the crowning display, the culmination of our trials."

The Cedarnan pulled up the curtain. SG-1 and Danny just stood in the doorway, gaping at what was before them. The room was shaped like a hexagon. On the walls to the right and left were paintings of each of the four members of SG-1. On the one directly across from the door was a large photograph of the team. But what really stunned them was what sat in the center of the room: a life-size sculpture of SG-1, beautifully rendered in exquisite detail in white, marble-like stone.

"Whoa," Jack said.

He and the others entered the chamber. There were plaques and signs detailing the history of SG-1's first visit, the cloning of Daniel, SG-1 discovering Danny's existence, and everything that followed. Beside the plaque recounting Danny's creation and SG-1 finding out about him was a three-foot-tall statue of Daniel holding a catatonic Danny in his arms. The anguish on Daniel's carven face was so lifelike that you almost expected tears to begin leaking from the eyes.

"This is . . . this is overwhelming," Daniel said to Esha. "The artistry of these paintings and sculptures is incredible."

"Thank you, Daniel. The artists who created them will be pleased with your praise."

"But it's too much, Esha. Please don't get me wrong. I'm incredibly flattered. I'm sure we all are. But this is so. . . ." Daniel waved his arms about.

Esha smiled. "Not in our eyes, Daniel. You and your teammates, as well as the rest of your people, saved our civilization. We will live on and prosper because of you. This," he gestured at the statues and paintings, "is nothing. It does not do justice to all that we owe to you." The man's gaze went to Danny, who stood beside Daniel. He touched the boy's face. "Remember, young Danny, the man whose cells you were created from is a great hero in our eyes. That is something for which you can be very proud."

Danny's eyes looked up at Daniel. "He's my hero, too," he said.

His throat tightening, Daniel pulled the boy into a hug.

A few minutes later, Esha led SG-1 and Danny back outside. A large group of people was then allowed to enter the museum. There were quite a few still waiting for their chance.

"We have planned a feast in your honor," Esha said. "If you are concerned about the food, rest assured that it has all been treated to eradicate the chemical that was poisoning our water."

Daniel leaned in toward Jack. "I guess you didn't have to worry about your little guys after all," he whispered. He got a light jab in the ribs in reply.

"A feast, huh?" Jack said. "Well, I've never been one to turn down good food."

Esha smiled. "Excellent! The feast will begin in three of our hours. Until then, you are welcome to return to your lodgings or wander around the town. The feast will be held in the meeting hall, which you have been to before. Until then, good day."

SG-1 decided to do a bit of walking. Daniel took Danny all though the town, explaining the culture that the people had come from and how it could still be seen in their structures and way of life.

"Could I see where I was made?" Danny asked after around an hour.

The members of SG-1 all looked at each other.

"We could take you to the hospital, but I don't know if we could go into the area where the cloning was done," Daniel replied.

They all went to the hospital. When they got to the door where the cloning facility had been, they found that it was unlocked. They soon discovered why. Every room was empty, all of the equipment and other things having been removed. None of it was needed anymore.

They came to the room where SG-1 had first seen Danny. Daniel pushed open the door and went inside. His mind filled with memories of that day almost exactly three months ago when his life was irrevocably changed forever, changed for the better. Esha had spoken about how much they owed to SG-1, but Daniel owed the Cedarnans something as well, something that meant as much to him as their renewed hope for new generations meant to them.

"This is where you found me?" Danny asked.

"Yes, Danny. This is where I found you," he pulled the boy close, "and it's where I found myself, too."

* * *

The Cedarnan feast was quite spectacular. By the time Danny and SG-1 left, they were so full that most of them could barely walk. Esha invited them to stay the night, but they all needed to get back.

The next morning, Daniel and Danny had their first shared session with Meredith. It went well, the two of them giving each other comfort, understanding the pain and fear they'd each felt.

That night, after Danny had gone to bed, Daniel received a surprise visit from Sam.

"Hey, what's the occasion?" he asked with a smile.

"Well, I was noticing that you were getting around pretty well today."

"Yeah, the leg is feeling stronger. The physical therapy is helping a lot."

"That's good. And how about your other injuries?"

"Healing up just fine."

Sam nodded. "So, would you have any objections to company in your bed tonight?"

Daniel smiled in pleased surprise. "Not at all." His smile widened. "Couldn't wait for the weekend?"

"Nope." Sam pulled his mouth down to hers in a passionate kiss. "My clothes are in the car. Go on and get ready for bed."

Daniel wasted no time in stripping down to his boxers, a thrill of excitement coursing through his body. He knew that he'd still have to take it easy, nothing too strenuous. A certain portion of his anatomy didn't care, however.

As Sam got changed in the bathroom, Daniel got under the covers. When she came back out, his mouth fell open. She was wearing a black teddy that was so sheer it left little to the imagination.

"Wow," he breathed.

Smiling, Sam slowly walked up to the bed and then crawled across it. Daniel's respiration and heart rate rose with each foot she traveled. At last, she reached him and slid under the covers. Daniel pulled her to him, his mouth talking possession of hers as his hands moved over her body.

"I have something to tell you," Sam whispered against his lips. She drew back a little so that she could look into his eyes.

"What's that?"

"In all the time that we've been on SG-1, we've bucked the odds, managing to survive what others would not, coming back from the dead more times than I care to count. Well, it turns out that we've bucked the odds again, only in a much different way." Sam's eyes locked onto his. "Daniel, I'm pregnant."

Daniel's breath drew in sharply. "You . . . you are?" he whispered, his heart beginning to triphammer in his chest.

And that's when Sam smiled, a joyful, brilliant smile. "Yes. I tested myself this morning. I got suspicious because I didn't have a period this past week, which I should have because it's my week with no patch. I went to Janet because I couldn't believe it, and she confirmed it. We're going to have a baby, Daniel. We slipped through that one percent chance of pregnancy with the patch and made a baby together."

Daniel was suddenly laughing and crying all at the same time. He crushed Sam to him and buried his face in her neck. He lifted his gaze to hers after a few moments.

"Marry me, Sam," he said intently. "Will you marry me?"

Sam smiled brightly through her tears. "Do you even have to ask?"

Daniel grinned happily. "No, I guess not. The writing really was on the wall, wasn't it." His mouth joined with Sam's in a kiss. He rolled them over, bringing her underneath him.

"When?" she asked as their lips separated. Then they kissed again.

"Tomorrow," Daniel replied, bringing his mouth back down to hers a third time.

"Mmm. Tomorrow's good for me." Sam moaned as Daniel's hands began roaming her body, slowly pulling the teddy down. "But only if we can get Dad here."

"We'll place a call to the Tok'ra first thing in the morning," Daniel murmured an instant before his mouth swooped down upon hers again.

They didn't do any more talking that night for a long, long time.

* * *

They didn't manage to get Jacob to Earth the next day, but they did the day after. The news that he was going to be a grandfather again and that he was very soon going to see his little girl get married to the man she loved overjoyed him.

And so it was that, on the following day, with their family and all their closest friends present – including Catherine, who'd arrived the previous day – Daniel and Sam exchanged vows to stay together for the rest of their lives.

Though there hadn't been much time, they had written their own vows, each of them wanting to publicly express their feelings.

"Sam," Daniel said softly, looking deep into her eyes. "When we first met all those years ago, I had no idea that you would become one of the closest, dearest friends I've ever had. It did not take long for me to feel a connection to you, a bond of kindred spirits. In the years that passed, many things changed in my life. I lost a wife and lost a part of myself as well, but you were always there for me, even when I was too full of pain to realize it. And then, circumstances forced us to say goodbye. When I returned a year later, you were there for me again. Your words to me gave me hope and a belief in myself. Yet, in all those years, you were always just a friend to me. I think the song we had our first dance to says it all. I had been looking at you forever, but I never really saw you, and, now, I wonder how I could have been so blind not to see you for what you really are, the woman I will love till the day I die."

Tears were sparkling in Sam's eyes as she began to speak her vows. "From that first day we met, I knew deep inside that you were special. The friendship we built from that first meeting became so precious to me, like none I'd ever had before. When you cried, when you grieved, I grieved with you. When you were happy, it made me happy, too. You were such an important part of my life, and when you went away," her voice trembled, "I felt like a huge part of me had gone with you. I missed you so much. And then I got you back. I had my best friend back. In the months that have passed since then, I have cherished the moments I've spent with you. Then, suddenly, things changed, and I was feeling more than just friendship for you. Though I fought those feelings at first, I finally realized that they were nothing to be feared, that this was meant to be. You are the love of my life, Daniel, and I will spend the rest of my life giving my love to you."

Minutes later, the final words of union were spoken, and Daniel and Sam became husband and wife.

Afterwards, a big reception was held. The newlyweds were more than a little embarrassed by Danny, who was running around the place, telling everyone that he was going to be getting a baby brother or sister. The boy had been delighted by the news, but was very disappointed when they explained that it would be over eight months before the baby was ready to arrive. Ever since learning that Sam was pregnant, Danny kept staring at her stomach, eagerly awaiting the moment that it would start getting big, proof that there really was a baby in there.

The day after Janet confirmed that Sam was pregnant, the doctor had a thought. She asked to see the patches Sam had, which were from the box Janet had given her a few weeks ago. The doctor discovered that the patches were well over a year past their expiration date, something Sam hadn't noticed. Janet checked the rest of the boxes in the infirmary, but didn't find any others like that, and checking with the other female personnel revealed that the patches they had were fine. Somehow, an old box must have gotten mixed in with the shipment. Because the patches were so old, they would have lost some of their effectiveness, which was probably why Sam had gotten pregnant. Seeing how happy the couple was about the pregnancy told Janet that it had been a lucky mistake.

Jack was also very pleased about the whole thing. He'd bet in one of the pools that Daniel and Sam would get engaged before three months had passed since their first date and would be married within three months after that. Daniel pointed out to him that the only reason why they were getting married so soon was that Sam had gotten pregnant, but Jack had waved it off, confident that he'd have won the pool regardless.

Needless to say, Sam's brother, Mark, had been shocked by the news that his sister was suddenly getting married and to a man he'd never been told anything about. When he learned that Sam was pregnant, it was natural for him to assume that she and Daniel Jackson were getting married only because of that. But then he saw them together, witnessed the love that they so clearly felt for each other, and all his misgivings disappeared. Yes, they might be getting married this soon because of the baby, but there was no doubt in Mark's mind that they'd have gotten married soon regardless. He was glad to see his sister so happy. Ironically, Mark had been intending to introduce Sam to an old friend of his, a Denver cop named Pete Shanahan, whom he thought would be a good match for her. But Sam had already found her perfect match.

Due to the unexpected change of events, Sam would not be journeying on the Prometheus after all. When Daniel asked her if she was sure, she had replied that marrying the love of her life was way better than any old nebula. The launch of the Prometheus, which had been scheduled for today, was delayed for a day so that some of the crew members could attend the wedding.

Sipping on a cup of punch, General Hammond watched the newlyweds with a little smile. In the Stargate Program, with all its dangers and the death that often came with them, joy was sometimes hard to find. It did his heart good to see two of the people under his command so happy.

The general spotted Jack watching the couple and walked up to him.

"I should imagine that you have mixed feelings about the pregnancy," Hammond commented. "Doctor Fraiser told me that traveling through the gate during the first trimester would be too risky, which means that you've lost a member from your team, at least on off-world missions."

"Well, yeah, losing Carter – and, yes, I'm still calling her Carter – from missions is a negative. She's pulled our butts out of the fire lots of times." Jack looked over at the newlyweds, who were dancing close together, Sam looking utterly radiant in her wedding dress and Daniel looking like the happiest man on the planet. "But I see that, how happy they are, and it makes everything else unimportant. Daniel and Carter may be my teammates, but, more than that, they're my friends, and seeing your friends happy is worth just about any sacrifice."

"Indeed it is, Jack. Indeed it is."

That night, in a romantic little Bed & Breakfast that they where lucky enough to find a vacancy, Daniel and Sam made love for the first time as husband and wife. Afterwards, as their bodies calmed, Daniel slid downward to lay his head upon the place where the life that they had created together was growing. As he closed his eyes, he remembered the words Esha had spoken months ago, feeling them deep within his soul.

"Bless the children, for they are a great gift to be cherished."

THE END 


End file.
